Northamptonshire charity hoping to replace lost funding with sponsored Facebook hate crime removal

Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council (NREC) says it has lost £25,000 in funding from Northampton Borough Council and Kettering Council.

Group chief executive Anjona Roy said: “The reduction in the award from Northampton Borough Council was a complete shock, putting at risk the great work we do here at NREC.

“We need to help replace the £25,000 in lost funding and help secure our existence for years to come.

“We thought this was an appropriate response to highlight the fact hate crime now exists in different forms than putting swastikas on pub toilet doors, as it was 20 years ago.”

NREC says its Northampton Borough Council grant was cut from £21,000 to £5,000, with Kettering Council cutting its support from £14,000 to £5,000 - meaning if it’s not replaced, the charity won’t exist in two years.

To try to raise funds it has set up a team to try to remove 1,000 ‘hate posts’ on Facebook in four weeks.

The organisation says the funding cut has severely affected its ability to survive in providing vital services such as supporting and representing individual victims of discrimination, supporting victims of hate incidents, raising awareness of the rights of individuals not to experience discrimination and to have their human rights upheld.

Mrs Roy added: “Please sign up to our sponsored report hate campaign by donating as much as you can at http://www.localgiving.org/appeal/NRECStopHateCRISIS.

“We and the victims of hate crime thank you in advance.”