Coven Supports the Sophie Lancaster Foundation – Here’s Why…
When you subscribe to Coven, £1 from every box goes to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. It’s a charity close to our hearts, and we’re proud to support them every month.
Who was Sophie Lancaster?
Sophie Lancaster was murdered for being different. She was a creative young woman who also happened to be a goth. A gang of teenage boys viciously attacked Sophie and her boyfriend in 2007, based on their appearance.
After fighting for her life in hospital for nearly two weeks, Sophie passed away at just 20 years old, having never regained consciousness. Five boys were convicted for the attack – two for Sophie’s murder and the other three for grievous bodily harm.
Sophie was quiet, artistic, and loved to read. She was trying to protect her boyfriend from the gang when she was attacked herself. No one deserves to go through what Sophie and her boyfriend went through that night, and no one deserves to be bullied, attacked, or brutalised simply for being, or looking, different.
What is the Sophie Lancaster Foundation?
While Sophie was in hospital, her mother Sylvia decided that the two of them should talk to young people about differences, about how it’s ok to express yourself in your own way, and how hate has no place.
Even though Sophie never woke up, her mum decided that she would go ahead with her plans in Sophie’s memory. Sylvia started The Sophie Lancaster Foundation to promote tolerance and acceptance, to teach children about differences and empathy, and to build critical thinking skills. They do workshops for Primary, Secondary, and post-16 education.
For the charity, S.O.P.H.I.E. now stands for Stamp Out Prejudice, Hate & Intolerance Everywhere.
The charity champions alternative people in our communities and has three main aims:
- To create a lasting legacy to Sophie
- To provide education that challenges prejudice and intolerance towards people from alternative subcultures
- To campaign to have the UK Hate Crime legislation extended to include people from alternative subcultures
As well as providing education in schools, the charity has gone into prisons and young offender institutions to tell Sophie’s story and share the impact that violence has on families and communities.
Why does Coven support this particular charity?
We both feel strongly about the importance of empathy and support for alternative people. As a couple, we could have been in the same situation, trying to protect one another from an unprovoked attack.
As a young goth at the time that Sophie was murdered, I couldn’t help but be affected by what had happened. I’d also experienced negative comments and insults based on how I presented myself and what happened to Sophie emphasised how comments can become violence all too quickly.
I kept thinking that it could have been my family dealing with the aftermath of a brutal attack, my family sitting at my bedside hoping for me to recover, my body lying there in a coma. All just because I, like Sophie, chose to express myself through my clothing and makeup.
As you can imagine, this charity has a personal meaning to us – me as a young goth and Tom as a hardcore punk kid. The work they do to educate children in schools about difference and how it’s ok to be yourself and express yourself is important.
We want all children to grow up in a world where they can be a goth, a punk, a ‘mosher’, a fairy princess, or whatever else they want, without being afraid that someone will insult, harass, abuse, or attack them for it.
Coven is about spreading a bit of joy to our goth, witchy, and alternative fans. Until everyone can be safe and express themselves with no fear of hate, we’ll continue to support a charity that works to spread empathy and education. Our differences are what make us all special.
