Preston City Councillor Daniel Gregg has launched a campaign aimed at combating bullying.  

The campaign ‘Bekind Northwest’, launched this month by the Liberal Democrat Councillor, calls for the government to implement better strategies to prevent bullying in schools.

According to the Department of Education’s report “Bullying in England April 2013 to March 2018″, 17% of young people aged 10 to 15 in England were bullied in the previous twelve months, in a way that made them frightened or upset. 

Daniel said: “We ask that the Secretary of Education look into working with schools to provide an anti-bullying champion, a role that a teacher could do to improve safety in schools.

“Look into educating children about bullying and the effects it has on children.

“Look into the prospect of establishing funding for schools to employ Advice and guidance counsellors, that children have a good relationship with and can speak to them in confidence about issues, such as bullying.”

Daniel hopes that the Bekind campaign will raise awareness of bullying, end discrimination and improve mental ill health.  

Read more: ‘Try Everything’ video shows off the work of children at Royal Cross school”  

The Bekind website contains information and tips about standing up to bullies and invites supporters to sign up to a weekly newsletter for up-to-date information.

The campaign aims to share its core values of respect, compassion, awareness and acceptance.

Since the referendum in June 2016 which saw the United Kingdom leave the European Union there has been sharp rise in bullying and discrimination cases. 

According to Ditch The Label, last year roughly 1.5 Million young people in the UK were bullied and that around half went unreported due to fear or embarrassment

Daniel who has suffered bullying himself knows what affects that it can have on someone. Bullying can happen at anytime in your life – during childhood and even in adulthood.  

He says: “Bekind envisions a world in which no person is bullied, a world with improved mental wellbeing and where discrimination is a thing of the past.”

Read more: Interfaith event arranged in Preston in response to controversial Netflix series

To find more about the petition click here and for more information on the campaign click here.

What do you think of the anti-bullying campaign? Let us know in the comments.