Celebrating diversity

St. Richard's Catholic College provided pupils with the opportunity to take part in a series of workshops during a Community Cohesion day.

Each workshop had a specific theme and experience.

The Year 9 Pupils had the chance to participate in wheelchair basketball which gave them insight into how difficult even simple things are when dealing with a disability.

The Global Voices workshop was led by a Zimbabwean native who told his story of growing up focusing on African culture and music. The charity "Refugee Youth Project" led a workshop about young refugees and why they end up in Britain. The pupils were encouraged to examine the prejudice that refugees face.

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The "Positive Voices" session provided pupils with the opportunity to meet people living with HIV and learn about the prejudice that they face. A Hinduism workshop was led by a practicing Hindu who shared Hindu philosophy, culture and worship, through storytelling and dressing up in traditional Indian dress. A Chinese Workshop provided pupils with an insight into Chinese culture including a chance to learn some basic Mandarin.

Finally, the "Breaking the Cycle" workshop was led by members of the Darvell Community who spoke about their experiences of learning how to forgive.

Peter Byrne, coordinator of the day's events, said: "This was an incredibly important day for our pupils. They were encouraged tochallenge theprejudice that minorities face.They were also able to engage and appreciate thehuge diversity that exists in our society."

Staff and pupils were appreciative of the informative and thought-provoking workshops provided by their visitors. Many pupils were moved by experiences from the day such as the brave talk given by a young man coming to terms with the tragic loss of his brother who was stabbed as a result of gang violence.

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