Cash to bring communities together after disorder
BBCThousands of pounds in grants are being offered to groups in Stoke-on-Trent as part of a social cohesion project following disorder over the summer.
A protest in the city in August, in the wake of the Southport stabbings, turned violent later in the day with police coming under fire from bottles and bricks.
The city council said the year-long One Stoke-on-Trent project, launched on Thursday, was backed by £600,000 of government funding with the aim of bringing communities together.
A spokesperson said they wanted the city to be "a place where everyone feels welcome, and can thrive".
About £240,000 will be made available through a community grant scheme for initiatives that bring people together.
Separately, the local authority said it would be running an "engagement and listening exercise".
The would work with residents and businesses to explore the city's "collective identity" and what more needed to be done to make sure it was a welcoming place with fair opportunities for everyone.
Disorder swept the UK at the beginning of August, in part due to false claims on social media that the Southport attacker was an asylum seeker who had arrived on a small boat.
The protest in Hanley on 3 August attracted a big crowd and some people told the BBC that they were concerned by the wider levels of immigration to the UK.
Later it turned violent and saw businesses close and some venues, including a children's performance at the Regent theatre, put into lockdown.
The following day, in Tamworth, rioters attempted to set fire to a hotel used by asylum seekers.
More than 80 people have so far been charged by police over the two incidents.
Jane Ashworth, leader of the city council, said: "We have made it clear that everybody in Stoke-on-Trent has a right to feel and be safe and that prejudice and discrimination are not welcome here.
"But we know that more needs to be done to understand the individual challenges facing our local communities.
"This will mean confronting some uncomfortable realities, engaging in difficult but necessary conversations and managing misinformation that can so easily spread hate and division."
During the summer disorder, police said misinformation was common on social media platforms including fake claims of stabbings.
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