Speech at
International Day for Tolerance
Good afternoon
Ladies and Gentleman and may I warmly welcome you to our community event to
mark the International Day for Tolerance.
May I thank those
staff and stall holders for giving up their time to make this event possible.
Don’t worry if
you’ve not heard of the International Day for Tolerance before – neither had I
until recently. But basically the United Nations every year holds a day to
promote tolerance around the world. The official day is the 16th November
but we wanted to hold our event on a Saturday to ensure that as many people as
possible could attend.
As the UN Secretary
General, Ban Ki-moon said; “The United Nations promotes tolerance as a matter
of its fundamental identity. When tolerance is upheld, we encourage the world
to emulate those fine examples. When tolerance is threatened, we must speak
out”.
Thetford has long
been a diverse a community; comings and goings defined the town in its early
days whether that be Vikings, Romans or religious visitors making pilgrimages.
More modern day
changes include new residents from London as part of the overspill in 50s and
60s to newer arrivals from Portugal and Eastern Europe.
As a community we
need to recognise the challenges that change can bring and the concerns of
those affected but never lose hold of that tolerant and understanding part that
makes us all human.
This week the news
has been filled with the trial of Jo Cox, the MP that was tragically murdered
earlier this year. It reminded me of what Jo said in her first speech in the
House of Commons;
“there is more that unites us, than divides us”
I think that is
true for every community and is a really important point to remember.
So please do visit
the stalls that we have here today and let’s continue to work together to improve
our community for the benefit of everyone.
