Brentford players bring Diversity Workshops to schools

23 November 2020

Sergi Canós and Dominic Thompson of Brentford FC have been meeting local schools as part of a series of diversity workshops. The Spanish winger and former Arsenal defender joined more than 500 pupils online for a virtual diversity workshop for the Premier League’s Primary Stars project with Brentford FC Community Sports Trust. The goal of the digital workshops is to raise awareness with young pupils of goals and ideas surrounding diversity and inclusion, and football’s ongoing role in these campaigns. This was one of more than 20 workshops hosted across four London boroughs.

Brentford FC Community Sports Trust is a partner in the Show Racism the Red Card project. As part of the project, Brentford FC CST delivers workshops on the topics of racism and discrimination to more than 400 children in local schools. The workshops are part of the #DiversityWins educational programme. You can read more about the programme here.

Thompson and Canós answered students’ questions on their personal experiences as well as wider movements such as Black Lives Matter and inclusion initiatives within football. Sergi, who has already been involved in promoting the Trust’s Show Racism the Red Card project, said: “In my role as a professional footballer, I know it’s important to use my voice to promote diversity and inclusion. I hope that by taking part in this workshop I have helped raised awareness of these topics to the next generation.”

Both players have already been recognised for their community accolades; Sergi Canos won the PFA’s prestigious “Community Champion” award last year and Dominic Thompson took part in a similar workshop last year. Their involvement in the workshop seemed to resonate with pupils from Rabbsfarm Primary.

Ruby Lane, Year 5 Teacher at Rabbsfarm Primary School, said: “The workshops were informative and well delivered. They gave the pupils a greater understanding of how and why footballers are supporting the Black Lives Matter campaign.”

Football has been showing solidarity against racial discrimination in a variety of ways since the summer and the Brentford FC players have joined in. They have worn t-shirts to share their #BeeTogether message, the Club’s policy on diversity and inclusion, and have also taken a knee before kick-off at many games. Not Today or Any Day is the EFL’s anti-discrimination message and aims to encourage behavioural and attitude changes at all levels of EFL football and ensure that a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination is embedded throughout clubs, particularly at Brentford. Brentford players wear shirts with the logo on them as a further mark of the Club’s commitment to racial equality.

Read more here.