Dorset Race Equality Council offers its support to footballer Raheem Sterling who says he faces racism in football, including last weekend when he was allegedly racially abused during City’s 2-0 defeat at Chelsea. We also condemn the anti-Semitic chanting at the most recent game in Hungary.

At Dorset Race Equality Council we see and challenge racism and discrimination on a regular basis in employment, housing, criminal justice and many other areas of life. We also agree with him, that the issue is wider than just football. As he evidenced, people from black and ethnic minority communities are often portrayed by the media in a less favorable light than the indigenous population.

We work to challenge racism and discrimination and to celebrate the diversity of our community, as well as to provide training and support to people to understand the impact of overt racism as well as in its less obvious but insidious and damaging forms. To this end we work in partnership with Dorset Police, Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group, local authorities across Dorset and many other organisations including AFC Bournemouth to stamp out racism and discrimination wherever it raises its head, and to celebrate diversity and the riches it brings to our community and our county.