Thousands of students, staff and parents from across The ContinU Trust partnership of High Schools, primary schools and Kidderminster College have shown their support for the White Ribbon Campaign against Domestic Violence.

The ContinU Trust linked up with Safer Wyre Forest partnership and Worcestershire Forum Against Domestic Abuse to deliver resources for assemblies, workshops and displays raising the profile of the issue and also signposting sources of help for families suffering from abusive relationships.

As part of the ‘Sixteen Days of Action’, which runs from late November to mid-December every year, almost 2000 white ribbons – the symbol of the campaign – were distributed to teaching and support staff, with many being requested by students and visitors to the schools and college. The high schools used their Year 10 Community Ambassadors to help spread the message, by helping put together assemblies and displays.

In addition, the Trust partners were invited to collect pledges on behalf of students to ‘Say no to domestic abuse and sexual violence and to say yes to healthy and respectful relationships’ as part of a county wide interactive map of pledges. “We’ve got around 1800 pledges collected which is fantastic” said Michael Conroy Harris, Collaboration Coordinator for The ContinU Trust. “Our challenge now is to input them into the website – it’s quite daunting, but that’s a good problem to have. This year has definitely seen a real leap in profile for the campaign – we’ve seen white ribbons everywhere and there’s a real desire to be involved”.

Special drama workshops were held in two schools, Baxter College and The Bewdley School, led by Birmingham dramatist Zoe Howorth who invited students to listen to a range of victims’ monologues and to offer advice and point them to sources of help. The workshops and other resources were funded by Safer Wyre Forest, using funds from the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner.

Apart from the work in schools and colleges, Safer Wyre Forest teamed up with Women’s Aid and Home Group to deliver personal safety information to shoppers in Kidderminster and attended several ‘Crime Free at Christmas’ sessions where they promoted the White Ribbon Campaign.

Kathryn Washington, Chair of the Safer Wyre Forest Tasking Group said “Our message to victims is: please don’t suffer in silence, there are a range of agencies to help you. Domestic abuse is a subject which is often hidden; raising awareness of it and how to get help is extremely important. We hope that the 16 days of action informed people and got them talking about domestic abuse and its effects”.

Worcestershire Forum Against Domestic Abuse in partnership with the White Ribbon Campaign, has created the online “Worcestershire Pledge”, encouraging everyone, with a particular focus on men, to make the pledge not to condone or stay silent about domestic abuse.

For more information and to pledge your support, please visit http://www.whiteribboncampaign.co.uk/worcestershire . If you would like more information about North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership, please visit www.nwcsp.org or email saferwyreforest@wyreforestdc.gov.uk Follow us on Twitter - @saferwyreforest The Worcestershire Domestic Abuse Helpline 0800 980 3331 offers confidential support, information, advice and access to refuge or emergency accommodation, providing transport when necessary. It is a Freephone number, staffed 24 hours a day by trained workers.