Amy's Story: "I am incredibly proud"

When we heard news of the awful attack that took place in north Belfast, we knew that there was gong to be an outbreak of racist violence given the precedent that has been set over the last few years during summer.

The past two weeks have felt like 2 months. The amount of work volunteers have carried out is immense.

I saw a lot of posts on social media about people being ashamed to be from Belfast.

I felt the exact opposite.

I am incredibly proud to be a part of a community that came together so efficiently to respond to hatred and violence on our streets.

I am incredibly proud to have friendship with women from Sudan who during a time where they felt fear provided so much support to people around them.

However, the incredible response from people volunteering their time to help should not be taken for granted and it should not distract from the fact that we are filling a gap that the state should plugging.

While all of this has shown the state’s failings, it also shows that when we come together as a community we can achieve so much.