Kicking off a week of action for Kick It Out

This Saturday’s fixture against Arsenal has been dedicated to celebrating the work of Kick It Out.

In support of football’s equality and inclusion campaign, today the Club is kicking off its week of action as part of its commitment to tackling all forms of discrimination.

In the week leading up to our dedicated game, we will be hearing about a number of Club initiatives and events used to raise awareness of the importance of equality and inclusion amongst fans and the local community.

This includes:
•    Celebrating Football v Homophobia Month and the one-year anniversary since the launch of the Club’s first LBG&T supporters club, Proud Lilywhites
•    Finding out about Ben Davies’ role as a ‘Next 20’ Ambassador
•    Taking a look at the Club’s bespoke Disability Awareness Course for matchday stewards  
•    Players wearing Kick It Out t-shirts during to warm up in before Saturday’s game

Founded in 1993, Kick It Out has altered the landscape of football by educating, raising awareness and campaigning to make the game a more safe, welcoming and comfortable environment free of all forms of discrimination, prejudiced attitudes and abusive behaviour.

Roisin Wood, Director of Kick It Out, gives an overview as to the level of activity the organisation is undertaking this season to enhance its message and display the wide-ranging approach to its work across the game: “The support of Premier League and Football League clubs has been crucial throughout the history of Kick It Out, and dedicating games to the ‘Season of Action’ and hosting non-matchday activities to promote our ethos has an incredible impact.

“For example, 1,114,323 spectators attended nominated ‘Season of Action’ fixtures across the Premier League and Football League during the 2013-14 season. With many professional football clubs acting as the hub for their local community, reinforcing their commitment to equality and diversity is vital.

“This year’s ‘Season of Action’ has a specific focus on promoting grassroots and community activity and professional football clubs have a responsibility to spread the message of inclusivity, unity and togetherness to all of their local stakeholders throughout the season and beyond.

“As an organisation, we are determined to strengthen our presence at the grassroots and community level to help further educate the future players, coaches, fans and administrators of the game on the need to banish all forms of discrimination, prejudiced attitudes and abusive behaviour from football.

“We are leading a real drive to engage more with grassroots and community projects, and supporters groups - especially through our ‘Fans for Diversity’ campaign with the Football Supporters’ Federation -  and have several exciting initiatives running throughout the ‘Season of Action’.

“We are providing supplementary resources, running a national educational competition, delivering school workshops, developing our partnership work with County FAs, and facilitating player visits led by our ‘Next 20’ ambassadors from the Premier League, Football League and Women’s Super League.

“As always, a big push is being made to publicise our reporting mechanisms - the Kick It Out app, our online reporting form and Freephone service - far and wide. One incident is one too many, and we must ensure there is a policy of zero tolerance from the professional game through to the grassroots and community level of football.

“Everybody in football has a part to play in tackling discrimination. Thank you for your support!”

For more information please email info@kickitout.org or follow @kickitout on Twitter. Keep an eye on the website for updates on the Club’s week of action for Kick It Out.