The Chinatown Recovery project facilitates discussions about the impact of pandemic and anti-Asian racism on London’s Chinatown. Working with Chinatown business communities,community organisations, regular visitors, artists, activists and a team of dedicated volunteers, this project provides counter-narratives to racist sentiment and prejudice in the context of Chinatown.
Since the start of 2020, anti-Chinese and anti-Asian sentiments have grown in the UK. Reported hate crimes against the people of East and Southeast Asian backgrounds have increased by nearly 50% from 2018 to 2020 according to End Violence and Racism Against ESEA Communities (EVR), a UK-based advocacy group. London’s Chinatown, which is a symbolic place for many BESEA people living in London and around the UK, faces significant pressure, with a dramatic decline in footfall since the first reports of the outbreak emerged from Wuhan.
Through a series of workshops and training events including hate crime awareness, bystander skills, advocacy techniques and sessions focused on healing and creative responses to racism will be held during the 2021 project.
The project is due to conclude with a report and toolkit developed by the project participants in Summer 2021.
Chinatown Recovery Project is supported by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust (WCMT).