Sunderland City Council, now under the control of Reform UK, has ended three decades of financial backing for Show Racism the Red Card, a charity that has delivered anti-racism education in schools, prisons and workplaces across the city.
The decision was confirmed last week by Christopher Eynon, the Reform UK leader of the council, who stated the authority would no longer fund "politically charged organisations with an agenda." Sunderland had been the first local council in the country to support the charity when it launched in 1996, making the withdrawal particularly significant to those involved in its founding.
Gary Bennett, a former Sunderland AFC captain who broke ground as only the second Black player in the club's history when he signed in 1984, has served as the charity's head coach and was among its founding members. Bennett said he was "shocked and disappointed" by the funding cut, rejecting the characterisation of the organisation as political.
"We're not a political charity – they're trying to say we are but we're not," Bennett said. "Sunderland were the first council to come onboard to help fund us, that's the annoying thing. For something like this to happen now, we just want to know the reasons why."
Bennett, still widely admired by Sunderland supporters for his playing days at the club, warned that the funding loss would have immediate consequences for the charity's ability to run educational programmes for children, as well as workshops in prisons and workplaces throughout the region.
He pointed to the racist riots that swept several English cities, including Sunderland, in 2024 as evidence that discrimination remains a pressing issue. While acknowledging that Britain had made significant progress in confronting racism since the 1980s, Bennett said new challenges continue to emerge, particularly surrounding public attitudes toward asylum seekers and migrants.
"You've got all different issues going on now. It keeps moving, it's always something else which causes some form of racism," he said. "It's something that is challenging every single day and we've got to keep the fight. There's still lots of work to be done and we can't just ignore it and think it's going to go away because it's not."
The funding cut has drawn sharp criticism from political opponents, including Labour's Bridget Phillipson, who on Tuesday called the move "misguided, cruel and in no way backed by the people of Sunderland."
Eynon pushed back against suggestions the council was softening its stance on discrimination, insisting the authority was not "stepping back from its opposition to racism or discrimination" and maintaining that "racism has no place in Sunderland." He also criticised comments made by Ged Grebby, chief executive of Show Racism the Red Card, who had described Reform UK as a "very dangerous organisation." Grebby defended his right to voice that opinion personally, adding that the charity enjoys support from across the political spectrum.
The controversy in Sunderland comes amid similar tensions in Bradford, where Reform UK councillors have proposed withdrawing the city from the Local Authority of Sanctuary scheme, a designation meant to signal that a city welcomes migrant communities. The Reform-led group running Bradford's council plans to bring a motion forward at its October meeting, arguing that public services should be prioritised for existing residents rather than initiatives tied to the scheme, which has previously supported Refugee Week events and library programmes for new arrivals.
Reform councillor Jayne Morgan defended the proposal as being in the public interest, despite acknowledging it might upset critics. Labour's Bradford group leader, Imran Khan, accused Reform of "vice signalling," arguing the move would do nothing to help residents and would instead fuel division rather than integration.
Based on reporting from The Guardian.