Sporting heroes meet 'Local Heroes' in anti-bullying initiative

Devon and Cornwall Police are launching their ‘Local Heroes’ initiative throughout schools in the region, on Wednesday 18 September. The initiative, run in association with Young Devon, aims to educate young people about diversity and bullying, while promoting values of tolerance, honesty, fairness and respect.

The high profile, sporting heroes supporting this initiative are: Commonwealth Games medallist Katherine Endacott, Exeter Chief Jack Yeandle, Team GB Paralympians Robin Williams and Keryn Seal, international cyclist for UK Youth Chris Opie and polar explorer Antony Jinman.

Jon and Mat Price – victims of bullying and founders of Totnes-based Proud2Be - will also be supporting the initiative.

These local sporting heroes will deliver workshops to school children in locations throughout the region during September and October. Topics covered will include: hate and mate crime, racism, homophobia and transphobia, gender discrimination, disability and sub-culture bullying. Each topic will include related information about cyberbullying.

Teaching plans and homework sheets will also be provided to the schools, along with supporting materials via a dedicated website (www.lhdiversity.org).

Videos, made by young victims of hate crime and discrimination, will be available online as part of the education package.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Katherine Endacott, said:  “I am proud and excited to be an ambassador of the Local Heroes project and think it is a fantastic way of getting the message of tolerance across to the youngsters through our own personal experience and support, and hope that it will make a difference to someone’s life.”

Assistant Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, Sharon Taylor, said: “This ground-breaking initiative will educate young people about tolerance and diversity in our society.

"We hope that by providing education at this stage in their lives, the young people of the region will grow into responsible and tolerant adults with the confidence and life skills to engage with all types of people, regardless of background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or race.”

Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, Tony Hogg, said: “Young people are our future and it is the responsibility of all those who hold public office to do everything we can to engage with them and help them to understand how to stand up to bullying.

“Clearly some people find it very difficult to do that. Using the role models at the heart of this scheme to educate and inspire young people to stand up against hate crime, is something I support wholeheartedly.”

Jon and Mat Price, founders of Proud2Be, said: “We both have first-hand experience of the negative effects of bullying. We were both bullied throughout school for being 'different', for being twins, for being overweight, for wearing braces and for being different to other boys our age.

"We know that these kinds of attack on an individual’s character and uniqueness can stay with somebody for life. Some say that bullying is rite of passage and that it is character building. We would disagree and say that to encourage, empower and support a person to be authentically themselves is a far healthier way to prepare them for the adult world. We look forward to joining Local Heroes as part of the solution.”