Last week, in light of the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, millions of people all over the world have protested and supported the fight against racial inequality, including many lacrosse clubs both overseas and here in England.
Indeed some of our university lacrosse clubs have now focused their efforts towards fundraising for anti-racism charities, challenging their members to walk, run, or cycle to raise some money for organisations working for change.
The University of Manchester women’s lacrosse club are into their final day of fundraising as they attempt to run 1,407km (or the entire length of the country) raising money for Show Racism the Red card.
Show Racism the Red Card is the UK's leading anti-racism educational charity and uses mainly, but not exclusively, football stars as its role models.
The majority of the campaign’s work involves the delivery of educational workshops to young people and adults in schools, workplaces, and at events held around the country.
The University of Manchester women’s lacrosse club’s target of £750 has been smashed and now their total stands at just over £3,000!
If you’d like to donate then they’ve set up a Just Giving page HERE.
Tomorrow (10 June), the University of East Anglia lacrosse club are challenging their members to walk, run, or cycle a combined total of 200 miles in one 24 hour period.
Any money raised will be donated to Black Lives Matter and used to “help surviving victims of police brutality and their families”.
Black Lives Matter's mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.
The organisation began as a call to action in response to state-sanctioned violence and anti-Black racism.
Their intention from the very beginning was to connect Black people from all over the world who have a shared desire for justice to act together in their communities.
The University of East Anglia lacrosse club believe now is the time to act and that donating is one of the ways we can all help in the fight against racism.
You can find their Just Giving page HERE and they’ve already raised just under £750 and that’s before the challenge has even begun!
The London School of Economics mixed lacrosse club is also raising money for anti-racism charities as they challenge their members to run a combined total of 236km in 24 hours to commemorate the lives of black Americans who were killed by police officers in 2019.
On Instagram, they wrote “in order to ensure actual progress and challenge history’s cyclical narrative we must come together and channel current sentiments into meaningful action”.
Any money raised during their running challenge will be donated to the US-based The Bail Project.
The Bail Project is a non-profit organisation designed to combat mass incarceration by disrupting the money bail system - one person at a time.
They believe that “paying bail for someone in need is an act of resistance against a system that criminalizes race and poverty and an act of solidarity with local communities and movements for decarceration”.
Over the next five years, The Bail Project will open dozens of sites in high-need jurisdictions with the goal of paying bail for tens of thousands of low-income Americans, all while collecting stories and data that prove money bail is not necessary to ensure people return to court.
You can donate to the London School of Economics mixed lacrosse club’s challenge via their Give Lively page HERE where they hope to raise at least $500.
England Lacrosse stands united with our players, coaches and whole lacrosse community against racism and actively encourages our members to do everything they can to listen, learn and improve in speaking out against racial inequality.