YOUNGSTERS in the North-East will be encouraged to show racism the red card.

Durham’s Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg has awarded funding to a national charity in a bid to help County Durham children tackle racism.

The funding will see the Show Racism the Red Card organisation offer their services for free to schools throughout County Durham and Darlington.

Interactive workshops will be staged at schools to teach pupils about the causes and consequences of racism.

During a visit to the Blessed John Duckett primary school in Tow Law, Mr Hogg handed over a cheque to the charity and participated in a workshop.

He said: “I believe this funding will help young people across the force area prepare to play an active role as good citizens in a growing multi-racial and multi-cultural society.”

Laura Pidock, the North-East education team manager for the charity, said: “Young people will be encouraged to reflect on how their ideas and opinions are shaped, the process of judging people, the process of stereotyping and appropriate use of terminology when describing people.

“We will also ask young people to think about how they can be involved in taking action against racism.”

Teachers interested in booking a free day of workshops for their school should email wendy@theredcard.org or call 0191 2576200.