Roads against hatred and intolerance

Still  from the short film 'Dark Angel' about Sophie' death

Sophie Lancaster was a young woman who got murdered by a gang of teenage males while she was walking through a park in Rossendale, Lancashire, in  2007. The simply reason for this atrocious and unspeakable act was the way Sophie and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, dressed and looked.Sophie and Robert chose to dress differently, to express their creativity and interests in a way that was different to the majority; they were part of the goth subculture.That someone's life can be so cruel and cowardly brought to an end is a sad indictment of our 21st century.Prejudice and hatred are still rife, especially towards those who are and/or look different.
At Tea & Sympathy we are proud to report that Sophie's mum, Sylvia, gathered the courage and strenght to work towards ensuring that Sophie's dead is not in vain, something she and other equally committed people do through the Sophie Lancaster Foundation,which was created as an educational tool to 'stamp out prejudice and promote respect and understanding amongst subcultures'.The foundation's work is key to try to raise awareness about issues like this one, and it should be a priority for any government in conjunction with educational organisations and communities.
The above mentioned short film Dark Angel, made by French director Fursy Teyssier with the soundtrack provided by Portishead is a heartbreaking  and poignant piece that illustrates Sophie's fate on the day she was attacked; it is a wonderful and somehow uplifting tribute to a young person who saved her boyfriend's life with her death.As the marvellous voice of Beth Gibbons remind us in this great song (Roads):' how can it feel this wrong?'

Please click on this link to watch the whole short film and help spread the work of Sophie Lancaster Foundation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW2ve6_BkRA