CST join CATCH initiative to fight hate crime

Britain’s biggest charity working to combat anti-Semitism has teamed up with peers fighting homophobia, Islamophobia and racism to help victims of hate crime in London get justice and support.

The Community Security Trust (CST) announced the initial one-year initiative this week, and said it would be working with Tell MAMA (Islamophobia), The Monitoring Group (racism) and Galop (anti-LGBT hate crime), among others.

The new project, called CATCH (Community Alliance To Combat Hate), was commissioned by the London Mayors Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). It starts in April in partnership with Choice in Hackney and Westminster Mind.

“It will see advocacy and support delivered directly to hate crime victims by the CATCH partners,” said a spokesman, about the pilot scheme. “This will involve assisting them through the criminal justice system and ensuring they can access specialist services, including welfare, housing and other needs that they may have.”

Last year saw near-record levels of anti-Semitism reported, and combined figures for all hate crimes show that in 2014/15 there were 52,528 reports recorded by the police, an increase of 18 percent on the previous year.

“We believe strongly that we should fight hate and prejudice by working across communities, supporting and learning from each other,” said CST chief executive David Delew. “We hope that this project will prove the benefits of this approach and we are grateful to MOPAC for making this possible.”