Young people from Elmwood receiving the Jo Cox Memorial Award – pictured with England Manager Gareth Southgate (centre), Iona Lawrence, Director of the Jo Cox Foundation (right) and Tim Roache, General Secretary of the GMB (left)
John Harris/ReportDigital
Croydon’s Elmwood Infant School & Nursery has won the Jo Cox Memorial Award at the annual Show Racism the Red Card prizegiving ceremony.
This is the eighth year running the school has won in one category or another of the national competition, and some of the staff, children and parents attended the event at Leicester City FC’s stadium to receive their honour.
Iona Lawrence, director of the Jo Cox Foundation, selected Elmwood as the winning entry, and England Manager and former Crystal Palace centre half, Gareth Southgate was on hand to help congratulate the winners.
Speaking after the event, Zoe Harris, head teacher at the school, said: “We’re so, so proud to have been chosen for this award. The school takes the Show Racism the Red Card competition very seriously every year because it’s such an important subject. It was fantastic to be told by Iona that Jo would have loved the poster the children designed – in fact she told us it would have made her laugh, which is so nice to hear.”
Show Racism the Red Card’s Chief Executive, Ged Grebby said: “It is fantastic that Leicester City Football Club have agreed to host this year’s School Competition Award Ceremony. The club’s achievements last season were an inspiration to so many people, and we hope that the winning entries from this year’s anti-racism competition will also inspire people from across the UK and beyond.
“The competition sees thousands of young people take part annually and it is a hard job for the judges to pick the winners from so many great entries. This year there were some wonderfully original entries and we would like to thank all of the teachers for promoting the competition in their schools.”
“I’m more than delighted that Elmwood have continued their winning streak and been recognised in this way for their tireless efforts to help stamp out racism. The future of our society relies upon children getting on together in harmony as they grow up, so competitions like this are important in helping them learn the value of seeing people for who they are, not the colour of their skin.”
Councillor Alisa Flemming, cabinet member for children, young people and learning
Throughout its history, entrants into the competition have produced truly inspirational work, some of which has gone on to be incorporated into the campaign’s wider awareness-raising activities.
Five-year-old Hassan Mohammad with Gareth Southgate
