Shades Hub Launch

The Shades Team recently held its first Hub, which aims to equip people with tools, understanding, and confidence to begin or continue their anti-racism journey. It offers a space for connection, reflection and learning, helping schools and churches intentionally grow cultures of love, belonging and racial justice.

Taking place in Oldham, Ashton and Rochdale Deanery at St Thomas’ in Oldham, it was encouraging to see headteachers and clergy come together with a shared commitment to making a difference. This gathering marked the beginning of a collective journey across the deanery, rooted in the desire to create environments where every individual feels seen and valued. The session focused on how to grow racial justice through love and belonging in our schools and churches. Participants shared their experiences so far and explored how to better lead Shades Ambassadors in our schools and churches, supporting children and young people to become advocates for inclusion and change.

During our reflection session, we imagined our schools and churches as a tree and asked: When it comes to racial justice, what can we do to help this tree flourish?

Responses included: “Cherishing people’s language”, “Ensuring everyone feels they have a voice”, and “Making sure every child feels included, valued for who they are, and has equal opportunity to flourish.” These insights highlighted a shared vision to transform our communities into places where everyone feels a sense of belonging and diversity is celebrated.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and demonstrated the importance of this work. We look forward to meeting with you again soon as we continue this journey together.

Our next Shades Hub will be on 30th June in Bolton Deanery. Find more information here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1989092309643