Emmerdale cast backs Hope Not Hate campaign

The Mirror's Hope not Hate bus celebrated St George's Day with the Emmerdale cast yesterday.

Lisa and Zak Dingle - played by Jane Cox and Steve Halliwell - welcomed the campaign on its final day in the North of England.

Jane said: "It's really important people realise we're in this together. We have to make this the best place for everybody. You can't go picking on people because of their race or religion or because they're a refugee. That's not the way forward."

Sammy Winward, who plays pregnant Katie Sudgen, agreed: "There are lots of tough communities where people have problems. But it's about how you deal with those problems. I believe in hope rather than hate."

James Baxter, young Jake Doland in the soap, and Chris Chittell, Eric Pollard, also broke off from filming in Leeds to support the campaign. "We all need to row in the same direction," said Chris, who has just run the London Marathon. James added: "We're all the same, no matter what you look like."

On its last day in Yorkshire, the Leeds Metropolitan university brass band joined our 1969 Bristol Lodekker bus in the city centre, playing to lunchtime shoppers. Today the bus arrives in the South East, spending its final week touring London, Essex and Kent. Travelling through different communities, visiting places from mosques to cathedrals, inner city estates to villages, its message is simple - a modern, diverse Britain is something we can be proud of.

The bus will visit the set of The Bill today as well as the stars of the Apprentice. Tomorrow the campaign meets the cast of Dancing on Ice. To watch the journey as a series of three-minute films, go to www.mirror.co.uk/hopenothate

Daily Mirror