Diversity Role Models, set up a year ago by former teacher and
current chief executive Suran Dickson, recently ran their first
fundraising carnival event hosted by Simon Blake OBE raising over
£76.000.
Describing the charity's "extraordinary first year" tackling
homophobic bullying in schools, she told DIVA "the work has only
just started".
The event which took place in one of London's most exclusive bars,
the Paramount, saw celebrities Sue Perkins, Boy George, Charlie
Condou, Harry Derbridge, Stella Duffy, Sarah Parish, Philip Salon,
Sophie Ward and Shelley Silas take part in carnival games in aid of
the charity.
Also featured was the carnival event spin'n'win, which saw Boy
George lose more money than he gained and an auction boasting
prizes including Matisse's 'Kings Sadness' an original colour
lithograph from 1952, a day at the races with Clare Balding,
afternoon tea with Downton Abbey's Lady Mary, swimming or
dancing lesson with Mark Foster, dinner or a personal training
session with Ben Cohen, a visit to Howard Hodgkin's studio, hosted
by the artist, the chance to be a named character in a new Patrick
Gale novel and a unique ceramic dog created especially for the
event by Grayson Perry.
The evening wasn't limited solely to carnival games; a performance
by Alison Moyet (pictured) set the crowd alight with Alison telling
the crowd, "To support Diversity Role Models is to support our
children. Every family is diverse and every child has the right to
grow into their own shape without intimidation or humiliation".
Doctor Who star David Tennant commented that he too was delighted
to support the charity telling our reporter, "It's essential to
help break down the stereotypes and prejudice that lead to
bullying."
The fundraising event was organised in order to aid the charity's
ability to grow its services to schools. Money raised from the
event alongside constant support from sponsors helps fund the
schemes that makes a difference to so many young people's
lives.
Using positive role models to counter negative stereotypes in
schools has already had an encouraging impact. One workshop held by
DRM saw the number of 13-year-old students who would avoid
befriending a gay person fall from 58% to 8% by the end of the
workshop. Role models associated with the charity speak to young
children in schools, offering them the chance to ask questions
anonymously. The aim is not to convince young children to make
moral decisions about issues they've only just begun to understand;
the aim is to make children aware of the diversity in the world,
whilst promoting the message that it's okay to be different.
Find out more about Diversity Role Models here
