FOUR “unsung heroes” whose work has brought communities in Bradford together to help tackle hatred and intolerance have won prestigious awards.

Politicians, faith leaders, educators and activists gathered in Leeds to see the quartet pick up three accolades between them in the inaugural Cohesive Society Awards for Yorkshire and the North-East.

Alina Khan was named 2016 Community Champion of Yorkshire and the North East for creating 150 new Srebrenica Young Ambassadors through the Stand Up Speak Out Make a Difference project in Bradford.

Her work is aiming to inspire the young generation of Bradford to make their voices heard and help others to learn the lessons from the past.

Srebrenica is a town in Bosnia where a genocide took place in July 1995.

Remembering Srebrenica chairman, Dr Waqar Azmi, said: “Alina’s work to nurture these young people, build their skills and allow them to become the voice of the society we all want to see is truly inspiring.

“In the wake of the terrorist killing of MP Jo Cox there is shock and dismay that hatred can lead to such violent acts, so we must remind everyone of what hatred and division has led to in the past and stress the importance of what we have in common.

“A report was published this week showing that 25,000 people have responded to this act of terrorism with hate speech online, celebrating the murder of a mother who was dedicated to working for the common good.

“Those people are a dangerous minority and we know that the people of Bradford welcome and cherish the diverse communities that live here.

“We are highlighting the work of unsung heroes whose dedication as volunteers to making their communities safer and stronger is truly humbling. Bradford should be proud of them all.

The other Bradford winners were Javed Bashir and joint-winners Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw and Zeynab Ahmed.

Javed won Best Educational Event for organising an 8-3-7-2 Srebrenica Memorial Football Tournament for more than 150 children in Bradford supplementary schools, as well as putting on an interfaith gathering that focused on celebrating differences.

Cllr Ross-Shaw and Zeynab were jointly awarded the Best Engagement with a Local Authority accolade for their community events held with Bradford Council and Leeds City Council.

Bradford Council installed the first-ever permanent civic memorial stone to the genocide in the UK in the city’s peace garden this year, as well as passing a motion to commemorate the genocide each year.

Jani Rashid, former head of diversity and cohesion at Bradford Council, was among those who presented the awards.

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