Auto Italia is offering two free 3-hour interactive Active Bystander Training courses, led by identity-based violence prevention charity Protection Approaches, and developed in partnership with Britain’s East and Southeast Asian Network (besea.n).

Whether you are a youth worker, cultural worker, educator, community organiser, or simply someone wanting to be more confident in supporting those around you, these sessions offer practical skills to intervene safely and with impact.

These expert-led sessions will guide participants through practical discussions and activities to explore how we can all play a role in tackling identity-based harms in our communities and workplaces.

Training dates:

• Tuesday 23rd September, 10AM – 1PM (Auto Italia, 44 Bonner Rd, E2 9JS)
• Saturday 27th September, 11AM – 2PM (TBC – London location will be confirmed and shared with all attendees)

Please note: Both sessions cover the same content, so participants only need to attend one. If you are no longer able to join, please let us know by emailing rachel@autoitaliasoutheast.org so we can offer your place to someone else.

You will learn:

• What it means to be an active bystander – through group discussion, participants reflect on what being an active bystander looks like in practice.
• Standing up for the targeted person – by working through scenarios, participants learn safe and effective ways to respond to prejudice, harassment, and identity-based violence.
• Proactive prevention – participants reflect on the root causes of prejudice and discrimination and explore how to contribute to dismantling them, helping to build safer, more inclusive, and just communities.

This training is part of Bystander, a new commission by UK-based dancer and choreographer Richard Pye that centres movement and performance in practices of resistance, empowerment, and collective care. Bystander examines the politics of witnessing, the dynamics of intervention, and the urgent realities of trans and queer safety. Developed in a time of intensified scrutiny and systemic rollback of TLGBQIA+ rights — marked by recent judicial and legislative attacks — the project acts as a critical site for embodied resistance, reflection, and solidarity.⁠

Launched in May 2025, the project is unfolding over a six-month period through a programme of workshops, talks, training sessions and a collaborative rehearsal period, culminating in the co-production of a new contemporary dance work to be staged at Auto Italia on 1–2 November 2025.⁠

If you have any questions, please contact rachel@autoitaliasoutheast.org