Supporting White Ribbon – St Hildas Collegiate – Dunedin

Josie Kyle and Madison Hughes are helping to raise awareness and funds for White Ribbon

“Violence to women is a tragedy that runs deep within New Zealand society” say Josie Kyle and Madison Hughes of St Hilda’s Collegiate. “It’s also something that isn’t talked about often, even though it drastically affects people’s lives. We attend an all-girls school and find this issue relevant to our school and its special character. Violence to women is also very topical and we want to help the New Zealand community and do our part to raise awareness in New Zealand.”

We asked what prompted Josie and Madison to support White Ribbon?

“Initially we both sat down with our Chaplain and explained our wish to help a cause. We found White Ribbon to be a valuable charity in New Zealand. It supports a cause that should not be an issue in New Zealand and yet unfortunately is. We hope to raise awareness for this cause and bring the issue to light in our community.

As it seems to be a topic that people avoid as a conversation topic, we want to make people think about it and not avoid it. We’re going to be selling the white ribbons to our school and community with the support of the Z-Club that we are also in, and we have planned a mufti day in the third term with all proceeds going towards the charity. By doing these things we hope that women will realise that there is a support network for them, and hopefully they will feel encouraged to get help if they find themselves in an abusive relationship.

“We have had the full support of our Chaplain, Z-Club and Senior Leadership at St Hilda’s Collegiate. We are hoping that in future years we will make this an annual event that is passed down with two year twelves and two year thirteens organising the event. Ideally this will create a connection between our school and White Ribbon and each year we hope it will grow.”

On behalf of White Ribbon, we’d like to thank Josie, Madison and St Hilda’s Collegiate. We are supplying them with free ribbons which they are then selling to raise awareness and funds for the White Ribbon Trust.