Special guests Baroness Doreen Lawrence OBE and Paul Mortimer will be leading the annual Charlton Athletic and Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) Red, White and Black Day taking place on 2 April at The Valley.
Red, White and Black Day is an initiative that has been part of the Charlton fabric for over 25 years. This year the parade from Charlton station to The Valley will include over 300 people from the Charlton family for a day that celebrates diversity and inclusion. This year’s event theme is ‘All Different, All Together, All Charlton’.
Baroness Doreen Lawrence, one of the most high-profile Equality campaigners in the UK who has fought tirelessly for social justice, will be leading the parade, as will Paul Mortimer, a former Charlton player and now Patron of LGBT+ supporter group Proud Valiants. They will be joined by fellow former player Dr Michael Bennett, the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Director of Player Wellbeing and English Football League Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion David McArdle. A leading representative from the Royal Borough of Greenwich will join the parade, as will men’s U23 players and Charlton Athletic Women players as well as CACT’s Chair of Trustees Marilyn Toft and CACT Trustee Martin Griffiths CBE and representatives from Charlton Athletic.
Accompanied by a steel drum band, the rest of the parade will be made up of local school children who have been learning all about equality, diversity and inclusion through workshops with CACT in preparation for Red, White and Black Day. They will be designing their own banners and flags to showcase their support for the Red, White and Black Day initiative.
There will also be a variety of local community groups, organisations and faith groups joining for the parade to The Valley including; participants from the Young Greenwich youth service and National Citizen Service programme; University of Greenwich students; Proud Valiants, Charlton Invicta; Charlton Upbeats and CACT-affiliated pan-disability team Ability Counts.
The parade will continue into The Valley and along the West Stand ahead of kick-off for all fans to celebrate the diversity of Charlton’s family.
Dr Michael Seeraj, CACT and the club’s Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, said:
“Charlton has a long, proud, unique history of promoting equality and tackling discrimination, and Red, White and Black Day is our flagship themed match, established over 25 years ago by our progressive, trailblazing Charlton fans.
“This year we are delighted to be welcoming local schools, Young Greenwich, and local community groups, who will be taking part in a Charlton parade to celebrate diversity, based on the RWB theme: All Different, All Together, All Charlton.”
Tracey Leaburn, Charlton Athletic’s Head of First Team Player Care, added:
“Red, White and Black Day is an incredibly important campaign which celebrates the diversity of Charlton and its surrounding community.
“We will have Academy U23 and Women’s team players joining us for the parade alongside former Charlton player Paul Mortimer.
“The first team will be wearing t-shirts during their warm-up to show support for the campaign whilst the parade will continue around the pitch.”
Charlton Athletic Women will be continuing the celebrations the following day by wearing t-shirts during their warm-up to support the campaign.
Join us on Red, White and Black Day to celebrate diversity and inclusion by lining the streets from Charlton Station to The Valley!
Click here to find out more about ticket availability for the Charlton Athletic game on 2 April.