Today (Thursday 9th November 2017) Just A Ball Game? (JBG?) celebrated their 7th birthday.
This year as in previous years, JBG? looked at the good practices shown by individuals and organisations who have partnered with them during the past 12 months helping to raise awareness around LGBT+ inclusion and visibility while also challenging homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) behaviour and bullying, and allocated our annual award.
JBG? are pleased to announce that the 2017 Just A Ball Game? Challenging HBT Bullying Award goes to Kick It Out.
Kick It Out is football’s equality and inclusion organisation. A small independent charity, the ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’ campaign was established in 1993 in response to widespread calls from clubs, players and fans to tackle racist attitudes existing within the game. Kick It Out was then established as a body in 1997 as it widened out its objectives to cover all aspects of inequality and exclusion.
Earlier this year JBG? partnered with KICK IT OUT on a Home Office ‘LGBT Hate Crime in Football’ funded project to produce resources to educate match day staff and stewards on the issues of HBT behaviours often heard in stadia within the professional game.
CEO of Kick It Out Roisin Wood had this to say on receiving the award, “We are absolutely honoured, on behalf of Kick It Out I want to say a big thank you, it’s been great working with you this year as we have for a number of years. We hope that some of the resources we have been doing and the support of the type of work you have been doing continues on.”
Link to video: https://twitter.com/kickitout/status/928234002615537665
