Flintshire schools come together to celebrate pride month

It was the first Flintshire School Pride Event organised by Hawarden High School and pupils were taught how to protect themselves and others from hate crime in the community. 

Supporting organisations  and partner agencies attended the event including Flintshire Police and the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.  

The event described as being 'a first of its kind' in the local area took place on June 27, and was hosted by Hawarden High School, Deeside.  

PSCO Connor Freel from Flintshire South Neighborhood Policing Team delivered a talk on the importance of recognising and standing up to hate crime in the local community, as well as being told how to report it to the police. 

PCSO Connor said: "I was so thankful to have the opportunity to attend this event which is hopefully the first of many. Unfortunately hate crime is still something we deal with in communities on a daily basis and more needs to be done to spread awareness of it and promote inclusivity of LGBT+ communities. 

"The talk I gave was to help educate pupils about what classes as hate crime and the protected characteristics that fall under it, as well as the importance of reporting hate crime to us and the different ways they can do this. Only by reporting hate crime will we be able to start making a difference to tackle it.” 

It was a hugely popular event with inclusive fun and educational workshops that ran throughout the day. 

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Flintshire police said: "Hate crime comes in many different forms and strikes at the heart of communities.

"With your help, we can tackle those responsible for hate crime and keep our communities safe. We're here and ready to help anyone who has been affected by someone else's prejudice, ignorance or violence."

Due to the importance and overall success of the event, Flintshire police say they hope it becomes an annual event in June hosted by a different school each year.