The Mission Australia White Ribbon Day Walk in 2020.
Tomorrow, Friday 18 November, residents of Cootamundra will be participating in the Mission Australia White Ribbon Day walk and presentation to stop violence against women.
This year’s theme for White Ribbon Day is ‘Let’s Be the Change’ and is an opportunity for people to walk tall for their communities and help stop violence against women.
The walk/ride will start at the Cootamundra Post Office, where attendees are invited to gather from 10:45am.
Following the walk, Mission Australia will be hosting an event at Dickson Hall on Cooper Street from 12pm, with guest speakers on the topic of White Ribbon Day, along with a free sausage sizzle and drink.
Sharon Reddie, Case Manager at Mission Australia, is looking forward to the event.
“This is an event that Mission Australia runs every year to support White Ribbon Day – which is violence against all women,” Reddie said.
“This year we’re hoping to run it a bit bigger and make a bit more noise. The last couple of years we’ve been affected by the Covid pandemic, so we’ve been limited to what we can do and how many people can commence in the walk.
“Our walk goes from the Post Office, down the main street [Parker Street] and then up around the corner to Dickson Hall.
“This year, we’ve got some guest speakers. We’ve got Constable Heidi Clancy, Deputy Officer, to come and discuss some things around domestic violence.
“We’ve also got one of the managers from the Wagga women’s domestic court advocacy coming out as well as a guest speaker.
“We want to talk about what services we can provide and offer women that are facing domestic violence in our area.
“We’ve got three guest speakers at the moment; the talks will go for about an hour.”
School students from the local schools are also expected to participate in the walk, like they do each year.
“Any other local services are invited to join the walk. It’s open to the community. Anybody that can’t join the walk is more than welcome to head straight to Dickson Hall about 12pm for the guest speakers, followed by the barbeque that the police are running for us,” Reddie continued.
“The main purpose is to raise awareness about domestic violence and give people in the community some advice. Each year we have a new theme, last year was ‘Stand Up, Speak Out’, this year it’s ‘Let’s Be the Change”.
“We’ve also got some motorbikes coming to the walk as well to make a bit of noise this year. So hopefully we can go bigger and better this year. It’s good to get it up and running again and promote a good cause.”
Tim Warren