{"id":6835,"date":"2012-09-26T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-09-26T00:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=6835"},"modified":"2013-04-27T20:50:32","modified_gmt":"2013-04-27T20:50:32","slug":"feature-the-sophie-lancaster-foundation-09-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-the-sophie-lancaster-foundation-09-12\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SOPHIE LANCASTER FOUNDATION – Somebodies (September 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE SOPHIE LANCASTER FOUNDATION – Somebodies<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nSeptember 2012<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nWhile walking home during the early hours of August 11th, 2007, Sophie Lancaster and boyfriend Robert Maltby came across an entrance to a skate park. A number of teenage males were at the entrance in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Rossendale in Lancashire, England, and proceeded to follow the pair. Without provocation, Robert was viciously attacked by the mob. Cradling him in her arms in an effort to protect him, the mob subsequently attacked Sophie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d gone out early that morning, and the police had pushed a card through my door,\u201d Sylvia Lancaster remembers, mother of the late Sophie. \u201cWhen I got home I picked the card up. I had a new mobile phone and I didn\u2019t know how it worked, so I hadn\u2019t bothered to take it out with me. I picked my phone up, and it had 40 messages from my son Adam. He told me that she\u2019d been attacked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sylvia wasn\u2019t initially made aware of the seriousness of the attack. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t quite work like that, I don\u2019t think,\u201d she muses. \u201cI asked Adam \u2018Where is she? Is she okay?\u2019 He went \u2019Oh yeah Mum, she\u2019s okay. She\u2019s in intensive care.\u2019 I thought \u2018No Adam, she\u2019s not okay if she\u2019s in intensive care.\u2019 It\u2019s an odd thing, because you don\u2019t think at first. It\u2019s only when all the medicalization starts working when you think \u2018This isn\u2019t right.\u2019 It\u2019s a very odd situation, and very confusing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophie had been subject to abuse prior to the fatal incident. \u201cIt turns out that they\u2019d been attacked three times prior to that attack,\u201d Sylvia confirms. \u201cShe didn\u2019t tell me about that and I don\u2019t know why she didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The perpetrators in question weren\u2019t the same. The police didn\u2019t take action however, because the incidents weren\u2019t reported. \u201cThat\u2019s part of the problem, isn\u2019t it?,\u201d Sylvia recognises. \u201cPeople put up with that kind of abuse, because they think that\u2019s a part of who they are. They don\u2019t have to put up with that kind of abuse. If people don\u2019t report, then the police are not aware of the situation. It does need reporting, and part of the work that we do at the Foundation is trying to get people to report incidents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, Sylvia hasn\u2019t forgiven the perpetrators. \u201cI would think that\u2019s about right, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

When loved ones are taken away, some find religion in an attempt to seek comfort. \u201cI\u2019m not into religion,\u201d Sylvia clarifies. \u201cI can\u2019t see that changing, but you never know, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sylvia has a different outlook on subjects like God, nowadays. \u201cIt affects your outlook in lots of ways, actually,\u201d she explains. \u201cYou don\u2019t think about it, but yeah, it changes your values system. It changes lots of different things. I don\u2019t like myself very much some days. You\u2019re definitely not the same person at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such incidents change one\u2019s thoughts on subjects like the death penalty, for example. \u201cI used to think about it, but I don\u2019t as much now,\u201d Sylvia admits. \u201cObviously I think about that, but then it makes you no better than them, you know? That\u2019s state murder rather than individual murder. I don\u2019t know. I just think it\u2019s a bit complex, that one. Obviously some days you\u2019ll think that, and then other days you won\u2019t. It\u2019s very odd.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sophie Lancaster<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Robert Maltby<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Nonetheless, Sylvia is happy with the police\u2019s response. \u201cI have to say the police were amazing, absolutely brilliant,\u201d she compliments. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t have been more helpful, or more sympathetic. They were very, very good, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the tragedy, maintaining a positive outlook is difficult. \u201cI was always positive really and that was quite easy for me because that\u2019s the sort of person I am,\u201d Sylvia reckons. \u201cNow though I\u2019ve gotta work at it sometimes, and I find it so frustrating. It\u2019s frustrating some days, and very difficult. It does get easier though thankfully, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll ever go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sylvia was formerly an intensive advisor for young people aged 13-25. \u201cI did lots of various things,\u201d she adds. \u201cI worked in high schools, and I worked with a local youth offending team. I worked quite a lot actually with youth offenders, drug abusers, alcoholics. It was difficult to help young people after what happened, but obviously I had to work. You can\u2019t live on fresh air, can you? I couldn\u2019t cope with it really though.\u201d<\/p>\n

August 24th, 2012 marked the fifth anniversary of Sophie\u2019s passing. \u201cI went to Sweden really to get out of the way,\u201d Sylvia says of that date. \u201cThat was part of the reason for going. What happens sometimes is people forget about the private things because we\u2019re so out there, and sometimes I don\u2019t want to share things with other people. I just like to have my own space really, where I can think my own thoughts. It was nice really to be in Sweden though with people that I didn\u2019t know really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly, Sylvia isn\u2019t in touch with Robert. \u201cI think he\u2019s slowly getting there though,\u201d she offers.<\/p>\n

Robert has an open invitation to become involved with The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, however. \u201cOf course he could, yeah,\u201d Sylvia affirms. \u201cAnd it would actually be a pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

13 days following Sophie\u2019s attack, the decision was taken to switch off life support. \u201cIt was very difficult, because as the days went on it became more and more obvious that she was never gonna survive,\u201d Sylvia confesses. \u201cThe doctors said \u2018She\u2019s only young.\u2019 They just didn\u2019t want to switch those machines off actually, but eventually they realised that they had to do something. They did a brain stem test, and that tells them whether there\u2019s any brain activity. Once it became obvious that there weren\u2019t, then it was decided to switch the machines off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sylvia describes Sophie as \u201cquite a solitary person, in reality. She liked nothing better than curling up on the settee with a bottle of coke, a bar of chocolate, and a good book. That\u2019s my biding memory of her really, and yet when she was out with her mates she could be quite the life of the party. And she was so funny \u2013 she had a good sense of humour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marilyn Manson<\/a>, Cradle Of Filth, Evanescence, and Emilie Autumn were among the artists she enjoyed. \u201cShe liked quite a wide range of music, really,\u201d Sylvia recalls. \u201cShe was just into the music, and films. She liked films. Buffy The Vampire Slayer<\/em> was out when she was young, and she loved that \u2013 that type of thing. The Crow<\/em> (1994) was her favourite film, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sophie Lancaster Foundation was launched following Sophie\u2019s passing. \u201cReally, I started thinking about setting up a Foundation before Sophie was attacked,\u201d Sylvia reveals. \u201cIt\u2019s really a bit odd. I had actually spoken to Sophie on the Thursday, and they were attacked on the Friday. I decided to do something in reality before she was attacked, so that sort of set it off while they were still in hospital really. My friend who was with me came up with a campaign. The initial idea was for Sophie to come with me to local youth clubs, and just let young people talk to her. The reality is that\u2019s what would\u2019ve happened, so that\u2019s the form it would\u2019ve taken.<\/p>\n

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August 2012 vigil for Sophie Lancaster<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\u201cI came to a realisation that young people and older people who look different or belong to alternative subcultures really put up with a lot of abuse and prejudice that I personally felt they didn\u2019t need to. Because I\u2019ve always worked really in equality and diversity I just thought I\u2019d do something about it, and then obviously Sophie\u2019s attack gave me the catalyst really to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sophie Lancaster Foundation has three main aims and objectives. \u201cOur three main aims and objectives are to create a lasting legacy for Sophie, to change the hate crime legislation in the UK and have alternative lifestyle and dress code as a separate strand under hate crime legislation, and thirdly is education,\u201d Sylvia details. \u201cEducation is going to schools, youth clubs, universities, prisons. Taking our educational resources to these places, telling them the story of what happened to Sophie and about discrimination of those with alternative lifestyles and dress code. That\u2019s the form it\u2019s taken really over the last couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Foundation\u2019s educational workshops involve a variety of activities. \u201cIf it\u2019s group work, what we have is an interactive game and it\u2019s really very simple,\u201d Sylvia expresses. \u201cIt is a two-way process though, and not just one-way. We really take the lead off of what young people say. It takes different forms, actually. Sometimes we get down on the floor with the young people with rolls of wallpaper, and get them to write what they think about alternative. Other times we just give them cards to write down the names of public figures they\u2019d like to spend time with, or alternatively they wouldn\u2019t like to spend time with. It depends obviously on what they say really as to which form that will take.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do attendees meet an alternatively dressed individual at one of these workshops, Sylvia? \u201cWe have a girl who works with us \u2013 Stacey (Elder) \u2013 and she\u2019s alternative, although I have to say she doesn\u2019t go into schools or wherever dressed alternatively herself. When she\u2019s suited and booted, she\u2019s a Victorian goth. If they see her alternatively dressed, then we\u2019ll talk to them about that aspect as well. It all depends really. It\u2019s more led by the young people than led by us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certain members of the public have a fear or dislike of alternatively dressed individuals, unfortunately. \u201cYoung people see somebody and they think they\u2019re different than themselves, but in reality they\u2019re not,\u201d Sylvia stresses. \u201cI think that that\u2019s a lot to do with it, and academics now are beginning to look at that aspect which is quite interesting \u2013 that fear of difference, fear of other really. I explain to young people that just because somebody dresses differently doesn\u2019t mean that actually underneath that they\u2019re not the same as them, because actually in many cases they are. It\u2019s getting that message across to young people, really. Rather than being frightened of difference, we should be celebrating difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attitudes of young people could perhaps be reflective of the parents\u2019 attitudes, and be passed down from generation to generation. \u201cI would think so, yeah, but I think a lot of it is peer pressure and it\u2019s the media as well I think,\u201d Sylvia notes. \u201cThe media doesn\u2019t help in many cases. We recently had a shooting in America (August 27th), and the media automatically drifted towards to the fact that the shooter (Bobby Gladden) listens to Rammstein. Hold on a minute; what\u2019s that got to do with anything? It doesn\u2019t help, does it? Really, I think it\u2019s a lot of different factors. It\u2019s a very complex subject, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps some of those who discriminate alternatively dressed individuals come from troubled backgrounds? \u201cI don\u2019t know \u2013 I don\u2019t know the answer to that,\u201d Sylvia concedes. \u201cThe reality is just because someone comes from a troubled background, that doesn\u2019t give them the right or make it okay. There are a lot of people with troubled backgrounds who don\u2019t do things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sylvia Lancaster with Black Veil Brides (Jake Pitts and Jinxx) at Download 2012<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Sylvia feels the Foundation\u2019s educational workshops have had \u201chad quite a big success. It\u2019s surprised me, I\u2019ve got to tell you. I didn\u2019t realise it would have the impact that it does, and obviously we\u2019ve got Sophie: A Dark Angel<\/em> (2009) which always helps. It\u2019s an animation, and we use that as well. That just has a dramatic effect on young people, as you can imagine. It helps young people build an empathy and I think sometimes young people perhaps lack that, a bit of an empathy towards other people. I think what it also does is it puts them right at the centre of things, and I think they see how that can affect other people. I think that\u2019s probably the major difference it makes.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Sylvia stated, the Foundation is lobbying UK parliament to legislate that discriminating someone based on their alternative dress is a hate crime. \u201cIt all started really before Sophie was attacked,\u201d she reiterates. \u201cOne of the benefits of the job I had was that we had a bit of training about hate crime, and we were also a third party reporting centre. I just remember sitting there looking at the criteria that they use for different strands, and thinking \u2018Goths come under that.\u2019 You\u2019ve got to have certain beliefs and values, which they do. I just remember sitting there and thinking \u2018That\u2019s an interesting one.\u2019 When Sophie came to be attacked, the very first thing I asked is \u2018Are you going to classify this as a hate crime?\u2019 To me, that\u2019s exactly what it was. It\u2019s the same as being racist. It\u2019s the same as being prejudiced against someone because they\u2019re gay, or whatever. It\u2019s exactly the same \u2013 it is no different. That really started the ball rolling. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhitby Gothic Weekend got involved, and really that was the start of it. I then went to see the Secretary Of State For Justice Jack Straw, and he gave us some good pointers actually. It went from there, really. He called for tougher sentences on those who commit hate crimes against people from alternative cultures. Once he said that it set a precedent, and it gave us a platform to work from. That\u2019s been quite an interesting journey, actually. We then had Lynne Featherstone (Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green) stand up a couple of months ago, and say that the government sees and accepts that discriminating someone based on their lifestyle and dress code is a hate crime. We are getting there, and we are making a lot of noise really in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UK government shares the Foundation\u2019s stance. \u201cThere\u2019s no issue about it actually at all, which was not expected as you can imagine,\u201d Sylvia enthuses. \u201cFive years on \u2013 as Lynne Featherstone said \u2013 they accept that what we\u2019re saying is right, the problem being…. And I understand this, so it isn\u2019t that I don\u2019t understand. They say if you put lifestyle and dress code into legislation, it would cause a lot of problems in court. Let\u2019s be honest: barristers are so clever, and they can use that in lots of different ways. My argument though is if they\u2019ve got brains and better brains than me, then they can differentiate between what is and isn\u2019t a hate crime. I think they need to look at that really, but in all honesty there is no argument.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Foundation works alongside the UK police. \u201cVery closely, actually,\u201d Sylvia divulges. \u201cWe were invited by Chief Superintendent Paul Symes to speak at the national Superintendents\u2019 Conference (in Warwickshire, England on September 12th). In March (2012) I went to speak in Gwent at the National Association of Chief Police Officers conference, and he heard me speak there. The police have given us massive backing, actually. They\u2019ve been fabulous; they back everything that we do. We work closely with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police officers possibly don\u2019t know how to deal with incidents involving prejudice towards those with alternative lifestyles, and perhaps have wrong ideas about those from alternative lifestyles. \u201cOh, I agree with you,\u201d Sylvia acknowledges. \u201cThe police accept that, and they know that. They\u2019re very much aware that they need to work on that issue, which is why they\u2019re working closely with us. They do know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The heavy metal community has lent great support to the Foundation. \u201cOh, absolutely amazing,\u201d Sylvia praises. \u201cIt\u2019s just been unbelievable, really. We went to Bloodstock Festival (in Derbyshire, England, August 9th-12th) recently, and it was just something else. The support that they give us is phenomenal, and the week before that we had been at Rebellion Festival (in Blackpool, England, August 2nd-5th). The punks as well give us support, and the the goths. It\u2019s been amazing, and a real eye-opener. I think what\u2019s happening is we have a massive faithful, and it\u2019s about the communities themselves coming together and standing up to say \u2018Actually, we\u2019re not putting up with it any longer.\u2019 I think that\u2019s just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aims of The Sophie Lancaster Foundation are British in scope at the moment, but there is the possibility that the Foundation\u2019s aims will become more international. \u201cI\u2019d like that to happen, yeah, definitely,\u201d Sylvia reveals. \u201cI\u2019ve been over to Sweden recently, and went to a goth festival (Sunset Park Festival, August 24-25th) in Ume\u00e5, Sweden. From that we\u2019ve been invited to a goth festival (Wave-Gotik-Treffen, May 17th-20th 2013) in Leipzig, Germany. Hopefully we\u2019re making inroads, and we have actually been working with Romanians for a couple of years now \u2013 they\u2019ve got a campaign in Romania. We have been working internationally, and hopefully that will spread. Obviously we\u2019ve been spending our time doing the best we can really in the UK, putting strong Foundations down here really first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aired on BBC Radio 4<\/em> during March 2012, Black Roses: The Killing Of Sophie Lancaster<\/em> was originally a radio play featuring poems authored by Simon Armitage, the tragic story told from the words of Sylvia by Rachel Austin. \u201cWe actually won the BBC Audio And Music Best Speech Programme Of The Year Award, and now it\u2019s actually been turned into a theatre play,\u201d Sylvia augments. \u201cThat was shown at the Royal Exchange in Manchester from September 19th-26th. I spoke to the director, and she told me that it was sold out. It had a lot of press interest. I think it might be taken to London, so that\u2019s amazing really. Julie Hesmondhalgh who plays Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street<\/em> took my role, and Rachel Austin who voiced Sophie in the radio production played Sophie. There was only be two of them onstage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a presence there every night. We had a stall, and sold merchandise. We did a question and answer session as well on one night.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sophie Lancaster Foundation has future plans, inevitably. \u201cWe\u2019ve just put together a big funding bid with an organisation based in Leeds, and we hope to get a helpline set up for alternative people which would operate 24 hours a day,\u201d Sylvia imparts. \u201cThat\u2019s our next big one. In another five to ten years time, I would like the Foundation to have its own training providers where young people who\u2019ve been excluded from school or can\u2019t get a job can come along and we\u2019d given them basic maths training, NVQ training, and that kind of thing. I would probably like to be involved in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, the Foundation doesn\u2019t work with UK employers. \u201cPerhaps that might be our next one to look at,\u201d Sylvia ponders. I think that might be a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employers sometimes discriminate against alternatively lifestyled individuals, such as those who sport tattoos. \u201cAbsolutely,\u201d Sylvia agrees. \u201cWe do get people coming onto us and saying that actually, that they are being discriminated against. We\u2019re working with a young girl, and she wanted to be a shop assistant. She had just one lip piercing, and I remember ringing a few departments for her in Manchester. None of them would interview her unless she took her piercing out, so we\u2019re quite aware of that issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

August 24th, 2012 marked the fifth anniversary of Sophie Lancaster\u2019s passing. Further information regarding The Sophie Lancaster Foundation can be found via the organisation’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interview published in September 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE SOPHIE LANCASTER FOUNDATION – Somebodies Anthony Morgan September 2012 While walking home during the early hours of August 11th, 2007, Sophie Lancaster and boyfriend Robert Maltby came across an entrance to a skate park. A number of teenage males were at the entrance in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Rossendale in Lancashire, England, and proceeded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,350],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-the-sophie-lancaster-foundation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6835"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6849,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6835\/revisions\/6849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}