Around 3,000 people from across the UK paid their respects to hate crimes victims during a vigil at London's Trafalgar Square, last weekend.
The annual event, which is now in its second year, marks the anniversaries of the London nail bomb
attacks in Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho.
Despite poor weather conditions and competition from the X Factor, organiser Mark Healey was happy with the number of people who turned up in support.
He told PinkPaper.com: “I was very pleased with the outcome of the vigil. I think that 3,000 people despite the poor weather conditions this year was brilliant and shows that there is a lot of support for what we are doing.”
However, Healey was disappointed in the lack of support from grassroots organisations, saying that it was “ironic” that they instead received letters of support from Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband.
“I know that the vigil is not a political event, but none the less it is an important act of remembrance of those we have lost, and those who have been affected by hate crime so I expected everyone to be there in solidarity with us,” said Healey.
“Despite this I hope we can improve communication and work together to build a more representative act of remembrance next year.”
The vigil included speeches from Jen Baynham talking about the loss of her brother for the first time in public. Her brother, Ian Baynham, was killed in a homophobic attack in Trafalgar Square in 2009.
Jen Baynham said the past year had been “an emotional roller coaster ride” for the family and said: “We are now left with memories and we talk about him often almost as if he was with us and expect him to walk in at any moment.”
Stuart Milk, the nephew of gay rights activist Harvey Milk who was assassinated, attended the event and was one of the highlights for Healey.
“It was an inspiration to us that someone would travel from the other side of the world to support us,” he said.
There were also fundraising events held in bars, with The Dame Edna Experience raising £329.58 at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in just 20 minutes. However, one unnamed bar did only raise 59p.
Photo by Stuart Young.
