The North East Anti-Racism Coalition (NEARC) is a movement of organisations and individuals of all ethnicities, committed to helping to make the North East a region that actively opposes racism and hatred based on religious identity. Set up by volunteers in 2024, NEARC is currently hosted by Middlesbrough Voluntary Organisation and will establish as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in 2026.

Become the Bridge is the first NEARC campaign inviting organisations to challenge racism together for a fairer, stronger North East.

If you already have a specific race equality action plan, you don’t need to write a new one, but we would like you to join the campaign and share what you are doing with other organisations. Become the Bridge is unique as it is a regional campaign responding to current, specific issues in the North East, and is grounded in the lived experiences and leadership of local communities. It is designed to enhance and align with existing strategies, policies and other charters.

 Our ambition is that Become the Bridge will connect organisations from all sectors and of all sizes across the region, providing support and peer learning and signposting to other regional and national resources. Challenging racism is a journey we are all on and, as such, we will provide a non-judgemental, safe, and supportive space to learn from each other.

To be involved, we are asking organisations to commit that:

• They share our aim: to challenge racism together for a fairer, stronger North East.
• They are willing to share information and experiences with other participants, where it is safe and appropriate to do so.
• They will work on practical actions towards the aim. This includes developing an anti-racism action plan or strategy (in whatever form works for your organisation), within 12 months and reporting on progress. 
• They will participate in monitoring and evaluation activities.

We are asking organisations to commit to developing an action plan tailored to their context and needs – and to ensure concrete action is taken. One of the core commitments we ask of organisations is that they take part in a regular monitoring survey so that we can identify what’s working and what may be more challenging.

Signing up to develop and implement action plans brings an organisation into a vibrant and supportive regional movement – needed now more than ever.

No there is no deadline. We have identified the first cohort of organisations working on action plans, who will be offered pilot peer learning sessions, to enable us to identify needs to develop a programme of support.

Organisations are welcome to join the campaign at any point. They will then have 12 months to develop their tailored action plan, underpinned by authentic leadership and commitment.

At present, Become the Bridge does not have the capacity to assess or revise action plans, but are providing a template action plan and a set of key principles that should sit behind this work. We do however, hope that organisations will share their action plans with others for peer learning purposes.

Become the Bridge will support organisations by:

• Creating a safe, non-judgemental space to openly discuss challenges and focus on practical solutions.
• Building relationships with peer organisations that are on the same journey.
• Delivering inspiring seminars, workshops, talks alongside signposting to resources, shaped by what participants say they need most.
• Supporting safe and appropriate sharing of experiences with organisations sharing the aims of Become the Bridge. 
• Fostering collaboration across the North East, driven by the needs and local context of participating organisations.

 Our ambition is to secure funding to provide more tailored support to Become the Bridge organisations following the development of their action plans

NEARC’s mission is to make the North East a region that actively opposes racism, and hatred based on religious identity. We have 5 main goals:

• Build and energise a visible anti-racist movement
• Encourage community cohesion work at a local level to build community resilience
• Shift public attitudes through a sustained awareness campaign  (this is where Become the Bridge sits)
• Provide practical support to organisations and institutions
• Establish a knowledge and evidence hub on racism and anti-racism

We have several working and task and finish groups progressing each goal. Please let us know if you would like to join any of these groups.

NEARC was set up following the riots that took place across the UK in summer 2024. We condemn discrimination in all its forms. We take intersectionality into account because people experience racism in combination with other forms of oppression – such as gender, class, disability, or migration status – so any strategy that ignores these overlapping realities will inevitably miss the full picture of harm and the full range of solutions needed.  

Developing an anti-racism action plan alongside broader equality, diversity and inclusion commitments is essential because race inequity operates through distinct structural, historical, and institutional patterns that generic EDI approaches rarely address effectively. Evidence from organisations such as IPS Grow (Race & Equity: learning and reflection – IPS Grow) shows that without a dedicated racial equity lens, race related barriers are routinely obscured within wider inclusion work, limiting impact.

 Similarly, institutions like the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM’s commitment to becoming an anti-racist organisation is recognised with the Race Equality Charter Bronze Award | LSTM) demonstrate that race specific plans strengthen governance by creating clear accountability, ownership, and measurable commitments that cannot be achieved through broad, characteristic agnostic strategies alone. 

Frameworks such as Business in the Community’s Race at Work Charter The Race at Work Charter – Business in the Community further reinforce the value of targeted action by providing established standards and expectations that help organisations benchmark progress and meet recognised commitments on race equity.

We recognise that we live in an increasingly polarised environment and that very powerful voices speak against anti-racism and similar initiatives.  We suggest that organisations respond in a calm, values anchored, and evidence-based manner, emphasising that equity and fairness are core to good governance and effective service delivery. 

Rather than engaging in culture war framing, the organisation can reassert that anti racism is about meeting legal duties, strengthening trust, and ensuring that everyone can participate fully. It’s important to show steadiness: listening where appropriate, correcting misinformation, and demonstrating through action that equity work is a strategic, ethical, and long-term commitment. 

Please contact NEARC if you need any support with this.

Yes, organisations can still sign up if promotion is only internal. We appreciate concerns organisations may have about risks associated with potential negative reactions.

We’d still value more public support, as this will help achieve our aims, but this may be something only some organisations feel able to do currently as a visible commitment to their People. 

We are developing a process for individuals to join the campaign and plan to launch this later in 2026.

As early adopters there is no fee at this stage.

We will continue to review this as we build our offer of support to organisations aligned to the learning hubs. We are considering a fee, as this some organisations have already told us that they wish to contribute. By securing additional funding to develop Become the Bridge, we are confident that we can all reach our goal of a fairer, stronger North East.