A charity has secured funding from Redbridge Council to tackle the high number of hate crimes in the borough.

According to Met Police data there have been 2,813 recorded offences in between November 2016 and November 2017.

Redbridge Equalities & Community Council (RECC) has received backing from the council’s Community Fund to engage with residents and support victims.

As part of the project, the charity will re-establish the Community Witness and Support Team which will train up volunteers to visit victims.

They will also speak to community organisation and schools about the “menace of hate crime” and show residents the easiest ways of reporting it.

David Landau, from RECC said under the scheme, the charity will also establish support groups and members will have the opportunity to liaise with relevant authorities through a “collective platform”.

Hate crime hotspots will be leafleted to raise awareness and encourage victims to come forward.

“Hate crime is motivated by prejudice and there is a lot of that around,” he told the Recorder.

“But there are many people of good will who oppose hate crime and who would not just walk on by if they knew what to do about it.

“Please invite us to speak to your group, contact us if you want to volunteer, if you are suffering hate crime or know that there are problems in your area.”

According to Met Police data there have been 16,341 hate crimes in Redbridge since April 2010.

Their understanding of hate crimes includes race hate crime, anti-semitic hate crime, Islamophobic hate crime and Faith hate crime.

Between November 2015 and November 2017, there were 5,533 reported incidents alone.

Redbridge Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) has previously spoken out about the increase in Islamophobic hate crimes in the borough.

Chairman, Vaseem Ahmed, said women who dress in a “visibly Muslim way” seem to be particularly targeted.

“We are really pleased that the RECC has been given funding, I have a lot of time for them and they do a cracking job,” he said.

“I would be delighted to work with David Landau and his team if they are alright about it.”