Pledging Together

Tuesday 31st March 2009 (ref: 08/09)

Building Relationships: Representatives from WALUAR, Mears, Leigh Building Services, Rok, Bass, BHE and GJ Seddon with Geoff Roberts, Chair of Wigan and Leigh Housing Board (front row third from right) and Ashley Crumbley, Chief Executive of Wigan and Leigh Housing (on right).

Wigan and Leigh Housing and its main building contractors are the latest local organisation to sign an anti-racism pledge, promising to show respect for all and report incidents of hate crime.

The pledge is an initiative developed by campaigners Wigan and Leigh United Against Racism (WALUAR), the not-for-profit voluntary organisation which has been active in the borough for more than five years. With cross party support, its members include the public, private and voluntary sectors, as well as including faith groups and interested individuals.

Geoff Roberts, Chair of Wigan and Leigh Housing Board, said:

“Wigan & Leigh Housing are delighted to sign the pledge which refreshes our commitment to provide services with fairness and respect to all. It’s marvellous to see that so many of the contractors who work for us agree.”

By signing, Wigan and Leigh Housing and its partners have pledged that they:

  • are a non-racist organisation
  • will show respect to all ethnic groups
  • expect other people to do the same
  • will report any hate-crime incident

Geoff added,

“We would encourage any of our customers who are suffering racism to let us know what is happening. Wigan & Leigh Housing have a specialist team experienced in dealing with all types of neighbour nuisance and anti-social behaviour. We will do everything in our power to sort things out.”

Earlier this month, Geoff, along with representatives from Mears, Leigh Building Services, Rok, Bass, BHE and GJ Seddon all put pen to paper at a joint signing event held at Unity House, Wigan and Leigh Housing’s headquarters.

The pledge will be displayed in all Wigan & Leigh Housing’s offices and contractors’ site offices.

Maggie Coghlin, chair of WALUAR said:

“We would like to see the pledge adopted by all the major public, private and voluntary organisations in the borough. We’re delighted that Wigan and Leigh Housing and its contractors have signed. We hope this will encourage many other organisations to take part. We are also working with local businesses, in particular food takeaways, to promote and display the pledge.”

Organisations and businesses who are interested in signing the pledge should email: mailto:waluar@blueyonder.co.uk