We are supporting White Ribbon Day on Tuesday 25 November and the Orange the World marketing campaign

Publication date: 18 Nov 2025

St Albans City and District Council is supporting White Ribbon Day – the worldwide marketing campaign to finish male violence in opposition to girls – on Tuesday 25 November.

The Council gained White Ribbon standing three years in the past, pledging to lift consciousness of male violence in opposition to girls and to be vocal concerning the challenge.

It additionally promised to make sure girls throughout the District who expertise violence know that assist is obtainable. 

White Ribbon is the UK’s main charity that engages males and boys to finish violence in opposition to girls and ladies. Its purpose is to stop violence by addressing the basis causes.

The theme of this 12 months’s White Ribbon Day is #wespeakup – a name for individuals to level out abuse and create a world the place everyone seems to be protected, equal and revered.

This 12 months, the Council might be holding a employees coaching session on White Ribbon Day concerning the marketing campaign’s goals and the way individuals could make a stand.

In addition, officers are working with the St Albans District department of Soroptimist International, a world girls’s organisation, to focus on the UN’s Orange the World initiative.

This is a marketing campaign with comparable goals to White Ribbon Day, the color orange symbolising a brighter future freed from violence in opposition to girls.

The Soroptimists have been given the usage of the Council Chamber on the Civic Centre to launch their marketing campaign on Tuesday 25 November.

Before that occasion, there might be a stroll via the City Centre to focus on the trigger with the Hertfordshire Domestic Abuse Helpline.

At the request of the Soroptimists, St Albans Museum + Gallery will then be lit up in orange as darkness falls.

Among the friends might be Councillor Teresa Heritage, the Mayor of St Albans; Cllr Paul de Kort, the Council’s Leader; The Very Rev’d Jo Kelly-Moore, Dean of St Albans; Dr Nick Caveney, Assistant Chief Constable of Herts; and Emma Robarts, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Herts.

Everyone is welcome to collect on the concourse outdoors to observe the constructing being lit up at round 5pm 

This might be adopted with 16 days of activism by Orange the World supporters aimed toward ending gender-based violence. 

During this era, individuals might be inspired to put on one thing orange and the Museum + Gallery will proceed be lit up in orange.

Councillor Sarwar Shamser, Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, mentioned:

We are longstanding supporters of White Ribbon Day and are persevering with with our work to finish male violence in opposition to girls and ladies.

I hope that individuals be aware of this 12 months’s theme, ‘We Speak Up,’ and refuse to stay silent if they arrive throughout any situations of abuse and harassment.

We are additionally supporting Orange the World and the work undertaken on this challenge by the St Albans District department of Soroptimist International. The lighting of the Museum and Gallery in orange will as soon as once more spotlight this necessary marketing campaign proper within the centre of our City.

Jane Slatter, Communications Officer for Soroptimist International St Albans and District, mentioned:

This is the sixth 12 months that we have now been working the Orange the World marketing campaign for Hertfordshire to lift consciousness of the necessity to eradicate violence in opposition to girls and ladies. 

We began small in 2020 when the Museum + Gallery turned orange for the primary time in the course of the COVID Lockdown. Since then, it has gained momentum and extra buildings have turned orange together with, this 12 months, the Odyssey Cinema.

For the final two years the theme has been ‘Call It Out’ which aligns effectively with the White Ribbon theme for this 12 months. We are positive that the 2025 marketing campaign will make individuals extra conscious and extra assured to name out and converse up each time they see violence and abuse in opposition to girls and ladies.

You can discover out extra about White Ribbon UK right here: https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/white-ribbon-day.

For extra details about the St Albans District department of Soroptimist International and their Orange the World marketing campaign, go to: https://sigbi.org/st-albans-and-district/

Another occasion being held by the Soroptimists is the launch of the Harpenden Orange the World marketing campaign. This will happen on Thursday 27 November, 2pm to 4pm, on the Eric Morecambe Centre.

On Monday 1 December, the Soroptimists and pals might be singing festive songs at St Albans City Station, 5.30pm to 7pm, in support of a neighborhood girls’s refuge.

Contact for the media: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727-819533,  [email protected].