‘When the riots came to Sunderland’

Friday 2nd August seemed like any other day in Sunderland. Children were enjoying the first fine weather of the summer holidays, families were out on Roker’s golden beaches. Friends were meeting at the pavement cafes of the city centre. At Sunderland Minster, the city-central Anglican Church, we had been praying for Southport where a riot had recently taken place.  Little did we imagine that soon it would be our own city that was hitting the headlines.

At 8pm, I received a phone call from my colleague, Rev Chris Howson.  “It’s all kicking off here, Clare!  There must be a crowd of 700 rioting in the city centre and massing outside the local mosques.  The police are managing to hold them off, but only just.”  The rest of the evening, is well documented – rampant violence and looting by men, women and youths.  It was as if they were possessed by a spirit of fury, anger, hatred and greed.  “Keep safe, Chris,” I said.  “I’m praying for you.”  I got no sleep that night.

Saturday morning dawned to scenes of a very different crowd. The rioters had dispersed, when God sent blessed rain in the small hours and the city council cleaning team had been out since 3am.  By 8am, hundreds of volunteers were sweeping the streets, moving debris and cleaning up.

At the minster, aware that many people of good will were reeling from what had happened, we publicised a Vigil for Peace that afternoon.  It was an opportunity for people of goodwill, of all faiths and none, to come together to lament, and to pray – to realise that they were not alone in their abhorrence of all that had taken place – to say “This is not the Sunderland we are, or want!”

Then, on the Sunday afternoon, well over 200 people joined us in a ‘Reclaim the City’ walk for peace, starting, once again, at the Minster.  As we walked, we deliberately crossed the scorch marks where the car had been burnt out, and passed the Police Office which had been torched, and we sprinkled water, as a sign of cleansing and purification, on each place where the violence had left its mark, including some blood stains on the pavement.

The walk was not a protest or a demo.  We walked quietly: talking to one another; praying, reflecting. We were a crowd of diverse folk - old and young, black, brown and white, some with pushchairs and pets, some with wheelchairs and walking sticks. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs. Students, immigrants, long-term locals, relative newcomers like myself.  There was no agro, no confrontation - just a united presence declaring that the streets of Sunderland belong to all.

There is still a huge amount of work to do to rebuild the sense that our city is a place of safety and of welcome for everyone. The damage that has been done was far more than physical. But already, God is bringing people of good will together, with a determination to move on: to have the hard conversations that maybe our communities have been avoiding, and to work in real partnership to make a lasting difference.

Before we set off on the walk, I sang that powerful prayer of Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

Goodness is stronger than evil.

Love is stronger than hate.

Light is stronger than darkness.

Life is stronger than death.

Victory is ours, through Him who loved us.

And all the people said: Amen!

Rev Canon Clare MacLaren is Canon Provost of Sunderland Minster.