Hope not Hate
 |
|
| Founded | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Nick Lowles |
| Type | Civil rights campaign group Anti-hate organisation |
| Focus |
Hate groups Racism Civil rights |
| Location | |
|
Area served
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United Kingdom |
| Product | campaigning, lobbying, media, research |
|
Key people
|
Nick Lowles (chief executive) |
| Website | hopenothate.org.uk |
Hope not Hate (stylized as HOPE not hate) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom that "campaigns to counter racism and fascism", and to "combine first class research with community organising and grassroots actions to defeat hate groups at elections and to build community resilience against extremism."
It was created in 2004 by Nick Lowles, a former editor of anti-fascist magazine Searchlight (from which it split in late 2011). It is backed by various politicians and celebrities, and has been backed by several trade unions.
Founded in 2004 by Nick Lowles, former editor of the anti-fascist Searchlight magazine, Hope not Hate functioned as part of the latter organisation until 2011, when the two organisations split. As a standalone organisation, Hope not Hate took with it two of the three units of Searchlight: Searchlight Educational Trust (SET), a charity; and Searchlight Information Services (SIS), its research and investigative function. The organisation now consists of Hope not Hate Educational Ltd (a charitable wing) and Hope not Hate Ltd (focused on campaigning and investigative work).
During late 2012 and early 2013, the Searchlight Educational Trust (SET), which later renamed itself to Hope not Hate Educational (HNH Ed: the charitable wing of Hope not Hate),) received three separate payments totaling £66,000 thanks to a funding agreement signed by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Conditions in the funding agreement prohibited the funds to be spent on anything other than "educational work", which also included a prohibition on political campaigning. The focus of the allocated funds was to establish community partnerships in four key areas which were prone to EDL activity, including sharing positive local stories and strengthing community bonds.
The campaign "mobilises communities by providing an alternative to the politics of hate". It encourages voters to support alternatives to far-right extremist movements; it also publishes allegations of violent activities by anti-Muslim organisations such as the English Defence League and more recently has also focused on Islamist extremists and issues of communal division, such as grooming. It presented a 90,000 person petition to the European Parliament protesting against the election of Nick Griffin as an MEP.
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