A Nottinghamshire hospital trust has refuted claims that its new anti-racism campaign was launched in response to Nottinghamshire County Council hanging Union flags on lampposts in Nottinghamshire.
Sherwood Forest Hospitals, which runs King’s Mill Hospital in Mansfield launched a new anti-racism campaign called ‘nohatehere’ in December.
The trust said it was implemented following a review of its anti-racism strategy, which found that ethnic minority, LGBTQ+ and disabled staff continue to face “disproportionate” levels of abuse.
But at a Mansfield District Council meeting in January, council leader Andy Abrahams said that the campaign had been introduced as a consequence of Union and St George’s flags being displayed around the county as part of right-wing initiatives.
He was asking Reform county council leader Mick Barton whether he would consider spending the £75,000 planned for the authority’s official installation of Union flag banners in Nottinghamshire on something else.
Cllr Abrahams said: “Specific concerns that have been raised in correspondence to me are around the St George’s flag, because some residents in our communities who have been here for generations have felt fearful and intimidated.
“I believe that your lack of judgement in connecting your campaign to what you say is bringing communities together has had the opposite effect and has been divisive.
“The result is that more people have been emboldened to act in a discriminatory manner – so much so that our award-winning King’s Mill Hospital, where we have over 100 different nationalities working, has had to introduce its nohatehere campaign because of an increase in abuse towards its members of staff.”
At the time the campaign was launched, the Trust described it as an extension of its wider ‘Expect Respect, Not Abuse’ movement.
At the council meeting, Mayor Abrahams provided his own case study of a local resident with family ties spanning back “generations” as one example of the “trauma” that Reform’s flag policy was causing.
He said: “This is a mother of a mixed-race daughter living in a small village. They describe painful experiences of racism directed at their child and the fear that prominent public displays associated with intimidation will deepen division.
“They do not object to private or commemorative flag flying, as we all enjoy that. But permanent, publicly funded installations introduced without any meaningful public consultation risk sending the wrong message in an already tense climate.”
Responding, Cllr Barton did not reference the hospital’s campaign nor the suggestion that the flags were causing division.
He said: “I took the decision, after making considerable savings, to put 180 banners up right across the county.
“These banners will be used for a multitude of purposes, including foster, kinship and adoption programmes, Nottinghamshire Day, Remembrance Day, and we have also had significant interest from the business community wanting to hire the space.
“The banners we have up at the minute are of the Union Flag, and we are very proud to be flying this flag across the County. I have had literally thousands of people contact me to tell me they feel it is a lovely thing to do.”
The hospital trust said it did not have anything further to add.
