Sadly, hostility and intolerance towards minorities of all kinds is on the increase. In particular, groups such as migrants, Muslims, refugees, asylum-seekers and gypsy travellers are often targets of abuse and hatred. EYST has previously delivered successful projects including the Think Project and Resilience Projects, both based on an open dialogue and contact theory approach, which show that people from those backgrounds can be the best people to dispel myths and change hearts and minds about those groups. The Don’t Hate Educate project builds on the success of this approach, and uniquely, trains a cohort of volunteers from those backgrounds to then deliver workshops in schools and workplaces, challenging misconceptions and changing attitudes.

The Don’t Hate Educate Project has been funded by the Welsh Government via the Hate Crime Minority Communities Fund. During the first (Oct 2019-March 2020) 20 volunteers with lived experience of diversity and discrimination will be trained. During the second phase approximately 120 workshops will be carried out in schools and public sector organisations. A post-workshop questionnaire will evaluate the project by measuring any increase in their understanding and knowledge, and any change in attitude.