YOUNGSTERS at a Renfrew school were happy to get on board with efforts to stamp out hate crime.

St James’ Primary welcomed a team from ‘I Am Me Scotland’ – a Renfrewshire-based charity which works in partnership with Police Scotland.

The school visit was a chance for children to take part in various activities aimed at raising awareness of the impact of hate crime.

One of these activities saw pupils in primary one, two and three hopping into a special Cinebus for a lesson which stressed the importance of reporting incidents, both within the school and in the wider community.

Carol Burt-Wilson, project manager for I Am Me, told The Gazette: “This school year, the programme has been delivered to more than 6,000 children, with a further 4,000 booked in.

“The programme is delivered from the Cinebus, which was donated by Stagecoach and converted into a mobile cinema and education unit.

“The Cinebus visited St James’ Primary, where the team were working with pupils in primary one to primary three.

“The children who took part found the event very informative and left with a very strong message about hate crime.”

The programme has been sponsored by the Robertson Trust and Renfrewshire Council and aims to raise awareness of a range of disabilities, the impact that bullying and exclusion can have and the consequences of hate crime.

You can follow the progress of the #MakeADifferenceScotland campaign via the hashtag on Twitter, by visiting the I Am Me Scotland Facebook page or by following I Am Me Scotland on Twitter.