A vigil to remember victims of hate crimes is to be held next week.
The community will gather in Jubilee square on Thursday, 13 October from 6pm, to remember those lost to hate crimes and those who need ongoing support.
A range of speakers will participate including representatives from the new third-party reporting centres for hate crime across Brighton and Hove.
A spokesperson for The Rainbow Hub said: “We want to come together as a community.
“The vigil is to commemorate everyone we have lost and that continues to need our support.
“We want to let everyone know that we are here.
“This week we’ve been shown the extent at which hate crime is rising with the release of the latest government hate crime statistics.
“We need to stand together as a community now more than ever, and work together to prevent further hate crimes.
“The Rainbow Hub, along with the Racial Harassment Forum and Possability People, have recently been set up as third-party hate incident reporting centres in Brighton and Hove.
“People can report hate incidents and hate crimes to us instead of going to the police.”
The latest release of government statistics from April 2021 to March 2022 shows the biggest year on year increase in hate crimes in England and Wales since 2017, a 26 percent rise from 2020-21.
In the year ending March 2022, there were 155,841 hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales.
However, an improvement in the rate of hate crimes recorded by police makes it uncertain if the rise is genuine or due to a continuing trend of better reporting rates.
As in previous years, the majority of hate crimes were racially motivated, accounting for over two thirds of such offences.
For any questions, or to buddy-up with anyone prior to the vigil, email Sophie or Meg at The Rainbow Hub, at tprc@therainbowhubbrighton.com
