On Thursday 20 August, the Council of Mosques held a hate crime awareness training session for a group of women at the Minerva Centre in Bethnal Green, with participants from the Minerva Centre, St Peter’s Bengali Association and Shahporan Mosque, Hackney Road. The session was delivered by Benedicta Dikeocha, Hate Crime Projects, Training & Engagement Officer at VAWAG & DA, and forms part of CoM’s ongoing work with the Tower Hamlets No Place for Hate Campaign. Participants engaged enthusiastically, sharing their own knowledge and experiences throughout, and CoM extends its thanks to Muhammad Mustaquim and all the newly recruited Hate Crime Champions for their commitment.

The group’s Champions are set to be formally recognised with training certificates presented by the Mayor at a special Town Hall event on Monday 12 October, marking 20 years of the No Place for Hate Campaign as part of National Hate Crime Awareness Week (10–17 October). This year’s national theme focuses on racism and hate crime affecting refugee and asylum-seeking communities, and CoM will be joining partners including East London Mosque, the Maryam Centre and the London Muslim Centre in raising awareness across the borough throughout October.