A Series of Difficult Conversations...

This episode is a little different from the others. The theme of 2024's UK DIsability History Month was Disability Livelihood and Employment. Usually we celebrate these events at the beginning of the month or year, but how much reflecting do we do at the end? Together with some close friends of BHCA, we explore the reality of their lived experience of employment through interview and the narration of written transcripts.

To begin Hate Crime Awareness Week 2024, Bradford Hate crime Alliance hosted the launch of the new districtwide hate crime strategy for Bradford Council, setting out plans to tackle hate crime over the next four years. 

Kendra Orandi was one of our keynote speakers at the event and she very kindly joined us afterwards, to record this podcast.

In 2017, Orthopedic surgeon Dr Nasser Kurdy was stabbed in the back of the neck, entering his local mosque. The case garnered international attention with much focus given to Dr Kurdy forgiving his attacker. Here, Dr Kurdy joins us to talk about the attack, the power of forgiveness and how that changed his life, how being portrayed as a victim isn't always helpful, and what we can do as a society to tackle hate crime.

In this episode, Richard Padwell, the temporary Bradford District Commander, discusses West Yorkshire police's approach to hate crime, how they are building trust in communities, and why hate crime reporting is so important.

Phil is a partnerships and engagement oficer with Stronger Communities here in Bradford. His influence on establishing support networks for the LGBTQ+ community in Bradford, is undeniable and here, he shares his creer experiences as well as his own personal experience of hate crime.

In a heartwarming interview, Jonathan Cash, author, journalist, and playwright discusses his experiences as a victim of the Soho nail bomb, its impact on his life, the attitudes of society towards victims of trauma, and how his experience moulded his future career.

Heather is the Youth Services Development Manager for Bradford Children and Familes Trust. In April 2023, when the Knife Angel came to Bradford to help raise awareness, Heather produced a stunning piece of work on the impact of knife crime that she very kindly shares with us here. We also discuss commonalities between hate crime and knife crime.

To mark UK Disability History Month 2023, we talked with Darryl Smith. Darryl is an inclusive practice consultant, and equality and inclusion trainer with specialism in disability awareness and hate crime, a programme lead with Equality Together and an equality, diversity and inclusion champion.

The second part of the unmissable interview with Saorsa. 

Saorsa is one of the UK's greatest advocates for trans rights. In a climate where hate crime is growing against the trans community at an alarming rate, Saorsa tells the reality of daily life for trans people and why the rhetoric surrounding gender is contributing to that. Part 2 to follow......

Daniel Balaz from Connecting Roma talks to us about his life growing up in Bradford and the work he does to support and connect the Roma community across the district, as well as their new role as a hate crime reporting centre. 

Our conversation with West Yorkshire Deputy Mayor Alison Lowe is a must listen. She speaks with searing honesty about her own personal experiences with hate crime and her advocacy for the work we do is so evident. 

To coincide with Restorative Justice Awareness week, Kate Brooksbank, from Restorative Justice West Yorkshire, one of our strategic partners in fighting hate crime, popped in for a chat to tell us all about the fantastic work that they do and how restorative solutions might just be an option for people who are victims of hate crime. 

For our first episode, Charles Dacres tells us about his experiences growing up in Bradford as well as the journey that took him to Bradford Hate Crime Alliance and his vision for the future.