This Thursday will see Barrow Town Hall lit up orange in support of the United Nations International Day for the Elimination Of Violence Against Women and Girls – with their call to ‘Orange The World’. Orange is the colour chosen to represent a brighter future free of violence against women and girls. Be part of the orange movement!

The request to light the Town Hall orange came from Women’s Community Matters, the Barrow based women’s centre charity who operate out of the Nan Tait Centre on Abbey Road, Barrow.

The centre first opened 8 years ago on 25^th November 2013 and has continued to work with women and girls who have experienced violence and abuse ever since. A recent appearance on the latest Simon Reeve TV series, The Lakes, saw us see an increase in interest in our service and currently we have received over £20,000 in cash donations, alongside numerous other offers of help, practical support and donations. We are extremely grateful for this support.

Women’s Community Matters Senior Officer, Rebecca Robson said, “We are strong supporters of the UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls and wanted to do something to make sure we marked it properly. We intentionally opened our door for the first time on this day 8 years ago so it’s important to us for two reasons – marking our birthday and continuing to call for an end to all violence against women and girls.”

The 25^th November sees the start of 16 Days of Activism an initiative concluding on the day that commemorates the International Human Rights Day (10 December). This campaign, led by the UN Secretary-General and UN Women since 2008, aims to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls around the world, calling for global action to increase awareness, promote advocacy and create opportunities for discussion on challenges and solutions.

Rebecca Robson said further that “We’ll be making daily posts on our social media throughout the #16DaysofActivism so if people want to find out more about ending violence against women and girls they can follow our posts or get in touch with us.”

For further information contact Rebecca Robson 01229 311102 rebecca@womenscommunitymatters.org

Find out more about the United Nations International Day for the Elimination Of Violence Against Women and Girls here – https://www.un.org/en/observances/ending-violence-against-women-day