With the Scottish Premier League kicking off on Saturday 9 August, Strathclyde Police has teamed up with partners across North Lanarkshire to launch a poster campaign aimed at tackling discrimination and hate crime: “We’re On The Ball.”

Posters will be displayed in public places across North Lanarkshire and will help reinforce key messages of the nation-wide “Show Racism the Red Card” which campaigns against racism in football and society.

But it’s not just about racism. The “We’re On The Ball” campaign will highlight the fact that discrimination and hate crime might not just be on grounds of race alone; it could also be about age, disability, gender, religious belief or sexual orientation.

The posters, which have been designed by officers from the community safety department at Wishaw, will encourage local communities to report any incidents of this type to the police (via their local police office or the online reporting facility at www.strathclyde.police.uk) or to North Lanarkshire First Stop Shop.

The campaign is backed by North Lanarkshire Council, NHS Lanarkshire, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Broadwood Stadium Management, Show Racism the Red Card, Crimestoppers and the four senior football clubs in the area – Motherwell FC, Airdrie United FC, Albion Rovers FC and Clyde FC.

Crime Reduction Officer Dougie Denholm from Wishaw Police Office hopes that the posters will make people think twice about their actions and how they treat others. He said:

“As football is such a huge passion for so many people in the West of Scotland, we thought that it would be a good idea to base the posters on a football theme.”

“Football is a marvellous medium for delivering such an important message to local communities and we are therefore extremely thankful that all four senior football clubs in North Lanarkshire are supporting our work.”