Colleagues from across The Calico Group recently spent the afternoon making individual promises to stand up against domestic abuse and listened to emotive real-life stories from their peers as part of the 16 Days of Action and White Ribbon UK 2019 campaigns.
Operatives from Ring Stones Maintenance and Construction and office-based staff from across the Group were supported by colleagues from SafeNet Domestic Abuse and Support Services as they heard about experiences of a colleague who grew up living with domestic abuse and how this has shaped their views at as an adult, what they can do to support others and how making the promise can help to open up more conversations around the topic.
Being proactive in moving towards the eradication of domestic abuse, alongside challenging negative behaviours and attitudes in both the workplace and personal lives, is something that The Calico Group regularly promotes and consistently motivates staff to do the same.
Anthony Duerden, Chief Executive of The Calico Group, is a White Ribbon ambassador and says: “Through the services we deliver I have learned about the scale and the shocking impact that domestic abuse has on people’s lives every day.
“We all need to do more work to prevent abuse happening, and I believe that men need to take a greater role in this. One way of doing this is to ensure it is talked about more openly to raise awareness and that is why I was delighted to support and speak at this event.”
James Macaree, Assistant Director at Ring Stones Maintenance and Construction, said: “It is really important that we all play our part in creating a future without male violence against women – by raising the awareness within our teams, we can all work together to end it.”
16 Days of Action is a national campaign aimed at businesses to aid their employees tackle domestic abuse and spans form 25 November to 10 December. Find out more here: https://16daysofaction.co.uk/
White Ribbon UK is urging people – especially men – to make the promise to never commit, excuse or remain silent about male violence against women. Find out more here: https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/promise