Croydon College students are taking a stand against domestic violence at the college’s annual Pledge Awards ceremony on Tuesday (30 June).
The students attended the recent Croydon Congress, at which everyone was asked to make a pledge to stop this crime.
They pledged to promote the White Ribbon Campaign within the college and the wider community, which encourages men to take more responsibility for reducing the level of violence against women.
Di Layzelle, the college’s head of student life and community engagement, said: “We’re going to create a student network of domestic abuse youth ambassadors who will work in local schools to deliver an awareness programme about safe relationships.
“The aim is to create a well-trained network which will help early identification of children and young people who are living with domestic abuse.”
Di has encouraged volunteering at the college for the past 10 years and was recently recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to further education.
The ambassadors’ training is already under way with students working with the Family Justice Centre staff and the Cassandra Learning Centre team as part of their volunteer projects.
“The students are a credit to Croydon. They’re committed to giving back to the community and working hard to effect positive change.”
Councillor Mark Watson, cabinet member for communities, safety and justice
Croydon College’s Pledge Awards celebrate students’ volunteering activities, which include work to raise awareness of female genital mutilation, and helping the homeless.
The college has 2,000 full-time students, 90% of whom take part in volunteering, committing from five to 800 hours each during 2014/15.
Last year, students volunteered more than 20,000 hours engaging in the community, and it is this commitment that led to the Unicef UK nomination for the prestigious Queen’s Award, presented to the students at last year’s Pledge Awards ceremony.
