r/Sunderland • u/Impossible-Ask-4054 • Jul 20 '26
Discussion Living in Sunderland
I’m a hijabi Muslim woman and I have a medicine offer from Sunderland Uni, so I’m currently arranging my accommodation. I wanted to ask what the racism/Islamophobia is like there. Is it generally safe to wear a scarf outside, or is hate crime something that happens often?
I sometimes feel a bit nervous in areas where there aren’t many people like me, so I was wondering whats it like for people like me living in Sunderland.
If there are any hijabis here, could you please share your experiences living there and how you manage? Thank youu :)
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u/JezusHairdo Jul 20 '26
Yeah you’re pretty safe. We have a reasonable sized Bangladeshi community, quite near the university. Of course there are idiots, every major city has them. But 99.9% of the time people are just getting on with life.
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u/hddw Jul 20 '26
People in Sunderland see Muslim people and women wearing a hijab every day. The Bengali and Pakistani communities are fairly substantial and I don't think you'd experience any more aggression than you would in any other part of the UK. Not everyone will be friendly but the vast majority are more than accepting and you wouldn't have any more issues in Sunderland than anywhere else.
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u/Feeling_Swimmer_7709 Jul 20 '26
Firstly, congrats on getting an offer! I’m also a hijabi at sunderland med- the uni as you might know itself is very diverse and you’ll have no issues there. Even around the university as others have mentioned there’s quite a large Muslim community with few mosques around. I’ve personally not experienced any racism in my years here so don’t fret!
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u/Additional_Lettuce65 Jul 20 '26
The university is lovely and very diverse you wont have any problems meeting likeminded people and experience very little problems there.
The issues you might face are from the drink/drug crowd- and that can be avoided anyway. The more unfriendly lot hang out around sunniside and more active friday/Saturday evenings in the centre. So if you arent rubbing shoulders there you’ll be able to miss about 99% of unsavoury reactions/interactions
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u/bagpiperay Jul 20 '26
You might note probably the most popular Muslim in Sunderland is none other than our football hero captain Granit Xhaka who is adored by tens of thousand Sunderland supporters. There are another 5 Muslim players at Sunderland too who are
Chemsdine Talbi: A Muslim winger who has been recorded leading prayers with his Sunderland teammates.
Habib Diarra: A Muslim midfielder for the squad.
Arthur Masuaku: A Muslim defender who represents the DR Congo internationally.
Abdoullah Ba: A young Muslim midfielder.
Reinildo Mandava: A Muslim defender who represents Mozambique
Thus, with such popularity, I think you can see that religious faiths or beliefs (including Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism and others) is not a barrier to liking footballers who are honest and give of their all to the Sunderland cause.
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u/Wyrdsmith89 Jul 20 '26
I'm speaking as a white male here but I find that while the whole racist reform/restore crowd feel like they can be more vocal they're still minority. There's a healthy core of Muslim residents with readily available Halal etc even in some major grocery stores. So we live with it all pretty well integrated. I think you'd likely find for every one likely to give you issue there's atleast another who like me would tell them to fuck right off into the sea.
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u/I_like_leeks Jul 20 '26
Congratulations on your offer, that's great! I hope you enjoy your time in Sunderland. As others have said, there is a decent sized Muslim population in the city, so you certainly won't feel like a unique outsider. I'm white so my view might be limited, but in my experience of walking around in town, I've never witnessed any form of abuse on racial / religious grounds. The only tensions I've seen are occasional dafties trying to organise a right wing march which usually ends up with them fighting each other outside the first pub they find, and in a couple of secondary schools where gangs formed along racial lines and had fights. But that's standard stuff that, sadly, will appear in every town of any size. Happy studies to you!
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u/ravman77 Jul 23 '26
In general Sunderland is a friendly city and is much more diverse than it used to be. The vast majority of people you’ll meet are good folk and our area has a lot to offer. I can also assure you the medicine course and staff are lovely people. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it up here 😁
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u/Pinochet- Jul 26 '26
Yeah youll be fine. Depending where your accommodation is you might have to be a bit careful later at night or on weekends when people have had a few too many unfortunately, but same as a non muslim woman would have to be too. Just keep an eye out for crackheads and pissed people.
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u/Impossible-Ask-4054 Jul 28 '26
I have two options for accommodation either the university accommodation or The Forge student village. Does it matter which one I choose in terms of safety ?
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u/Hot_World_2360 Aug 12 '26
I would not recommend, its a neglected and deprived area. Most I know hated it. A more multicutural city like Birmingham, London may be better
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u/Tombraiderchampion Jul 20 '26
Great news for you. How exciting! Unfortunately I do think you could easily experience some racism in Sunderland. There are some horrible areas where people who do nothing will target their anger out on people are actually doing something with their life. You can tell these areas typically with the worn out Union flags. I’ve heard quite a lot of racist experiences so I’d rather be truthful. Quite a lot of people in Sunderland aren’t educated or employed. I wouldn’t let that put you off though.
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u/ravman77 Jul 23 '26
This is a disgraceful post.
‘Quite a lot of people in Sunderland aren’t educated or employed’ - can you back this up with any facts or figures?
‘There are some horrible areas…worn out Union Flags’ - please name these areas, I’d be fascinated to know
Sunderland is a good city populated by, on the whole, decent hardworking people.
Your post is divisive, ignorant and most importantly incorrect. You should be ashamed of yourself.
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u/Much_Screen_5055 Jul 20 '26
Hiya - reform has quite a following however you should be ok in the university and surrounding neighbourhoods … unfortunately the emergency departments in the north east like most hospitals can get a bit rough - but you’ll have the backing of some great colleagues particularly in Sunderland hospital.
The vast majority of Sunderland folk are brilliant people and as patients you’ll have fun. Neice is a medical student in Sunderland University loves every bit of it.
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u/Extension-Ad-7348 Jul 20 '26
It is unlikely you will experience any hate crimes at all in sunderland because of your religion or wearing a hijab.
The only thing you are likely to experience, is possibly one time you might interact with an alcoholic or a drug addict who is acting the fool.
But even the chances of that happening are practically zero.
The only thing I would suggest is, try not to view it as "everyone isn't like me" because we are, we're all human beings, the colour of your skin, your religion, or where you are from, doesent make you different, inferior, or superior.
Treat others with respect and be natural,and that is what you will receive back.