Doucoure: Education Is Key For Better Future

Everton stars Abdoulaye Doucoure and Toni Payne headed to Goodison Park last week to attend a Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) educational event.

Hosted by Everton in the Community, the Blues duo took part in a Q&A about racism and anti-racism with local schoolchildren alongside panellists including General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Paul Nowak and former footballer and SRtRC Campaign Coordinator, Richard Offiong.

A total of 90 pupils from across EitC’s Primary Education programmes engaged in SRtRC’s workshop which aimed to inform them about the causes and consequences of racism as well as how to challenge common stereotypes, misconceptions and prejudicial attitudes in society.

The young people were also selected as anti-discriminatory representatives for their school and were tasked with relaying the knowledge they learnt at the event back to their peers in the classroom.

Following the Q&A, Toffees pair Doucoure and Payne signed posters and took photos with the young Evertonians in attendance before the workshop proceeded.

Reflecting on his guest panel appearance, Doucoure said: "Education is the key because these children will be adults soon, they could already be online, so it's important for me to be here and help them understand the power of words.

“There were some really intelligent questions today and I hope they learnt more about how to stand up against racism, about how it can make people feel and to never accept discrimination or any form of abuse. Hopefully days like today will give them the confidence to report any incidents they see or hear.”

Nigeria international Payne added: “It was fantastic to see the positive work that both SRtRC and EitC are doing to help educate the next generation of children about anti-racism, especially while they’re at such an impressionable age.

"It was a privilege to be able to use my platform to help reinforce the importance of challenging racism and any form of prejudice wherever we see it – whether that’s on or off the pitch. I think everyone in the room really benefitted from today’s event and it was great to be a part of it.” 

SRtRC is a leading anti-racism educational charity in the UK. The majority of its work focuses on delivering educational workshops to young people and adults in schools, workplaces and at events held at football clubs, with the charity reaching 50,000 people a year through its educational sessions.  

To find out more about SRtRC’s work, click here.