Wakefield to host third Yorkshire Islamophobia Conference 2022

Around 100 people are expected to attend the conference which will discuss how the public, private and community sectors can make progress against Islamophobia.

The conference was first held in 2019 and took place again last year at Lightwaves Community Centre after Covid-19 lockdown restrictions eased.

The conference by the community interest company is being held at Wakefield Town Hall, Wood Street, between 10am and 3pm on Saturday, November 26.

The conference has been organised by Mick McKigney, a director of Lightwaves Community Trust and Councillor for Crofton, Ryhill and Walton, Usman Ali.

Coun Ali said: "We’re looking forward to the conference tomorrow.

"It is going to bring people from the public, private and community sectors together to discuss how we can raise awareness surrounding Islamophobia in different areas of life, including sport, education, public apologies and society as a whole.

"The conference is Yorkshire wide, we’ve got people coming from all over the place including Bradford, Rotherham, Doncaster, Sheffield, Kirklees, Calderdale and some people from Liverpool and further.”

The conference coincides with the national Islamophobia Awareness Month, which has been held every November since 2012.

Islamophobia Awareness Month “aims to showcase the positive contributions of Muslims as well as raise awareness of Islamophobia in society.”

Other guest speakers include Iqbal Bhana OBE DL, assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, Kate Riley, and leader of Wakefield Council Coun Denise Jeffery, among others.

Mr Mckigney added: “The conference is building on the success of the conference that was held last year.

"The morning session will start off with a series of speakers ranging from Iqbal Bhana OBE DL who has been involved in promoting equal opportunities in public life for over 30 years as well as the assistant chief constable who will discuss community safety and inclusion.

"We’ve also got Shaid Mahmood who will be speaking on communities and development and it will be chaired by Kauser Jan, a headteacher from Leeds.

“The conference will then breakout into workshops discussing young people and sport, as well as representation and participation.”

Tickets for the event are free and are still available online via Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/yorkshire-islamophobia-2022-tickets-444690229447.