ANTI-RACISM campaigners spoke yesterday of the importance of breaking out of activist “bubbles” to have open conversations in communities.

Hope Not Hate has trained thousands of activists and held workshops up and down the country to discuss issues and build “winnable, non-divisive campaigns.”

Taking its lead from the Los Angeles LGBT Centre, the group is using conversational approaches and training community leaders to have better conversations about immigration.

Hope Not Hate West Midlands community organiser Arun Devasia said: “It's better to have a conversation between equals rather than between an activist and an individual who holds a particular view.

“It allows us to build vital trust to succeed in campaigns we're doing.”

The group is working with trade unions, sports groups and community forums and has looked at techniques from counselling such as empathetic listening and open questions to understand others’ values better.

Mr Devasia said: “You'll always get people resisting it, thinking it's a soft approach, but a friendly approach is better than telling someone they’re racist and walking away.”