Sunderland Council Ends 30 Years of Support for Anti-Racism Charity
Sunderland City Council, now controlled by Reform UK, has ended 30 years of support for Show Racism the Red Card, the anti-racism education charity founded in the city.
The decision was announced last week by council leader Christopher Eynon, who said the authority would no longer support "politically charged organisations with an agenda" The Guardian. Reform UK took control of Sunderland council in May. The withdrawal of support for Wear Red Day 2026 was agreed at a council meeting on Wednesday 16 September, which the charity confirmed in a statement posted on 17 September.
The link goes back to the beginning. Show Racism the Red Card was established in 1996, and Sunderland was the first local authority to support it. Council records list, as background, a £4,000 grant for 12 months from 1 April 2016 to support the charity's development. The charity is registered in England and Wales as charity number 1116971.
At the centre of the response is Gary Bennett, former Sunderland AFC captain and head coach of Show Racism the Red Card. Bennett was a founding member of the charity. He joined Sunderland in 1984 as only the second black player in the club's history and played for the club from 1984 to 1995 BBC. He said he was shocked and disappointed that the council withdrew funding.
Labour's Bridget Phillipson described the decision as "misguided, cruel and in no way backed by the people of Sunderland". Eynon said the council is not stepping back from opposition to racism or discrimination and that racism has no place in Sunderland.
Anti-racism education in some schools will be scrapped after the council ended its support. The withdrawal followed a row with the charity's head, according to BBC reporting.
The broader context here is about funding channels as much as symbols. In England, councils often act as conveners for charity-led work in schools, providing grants, endorsement and access, like a bridge between classrooms and outside groups. When that endorsement is removed, programmes can fall away even if the charity continues nationally. Sunderland matters in that equation because it was the first council backer. Ending that relationship carries a weight that a similar decision elsewhere would not.
Looking at what this means for practitioners to watch, two questions stand out. The first is operational: whether schools affected will source anti-racism provision independently, and on what terms. The second is political: how the council defines the line between core equalities work, which it says it will continue, and support for what it calls politically charged organisations. That distinction will determine how grant decisions are handled beyond this one charity.
