Manchester University Students Union November 2005- March 2006

We developed a poster campaign to run for 2 weeks before International Womens Day.

Posters were displayed in student areas on 6 sheets billboards and telephone boxes.
The City Council Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership paid for the cost of printing the posters, while Clear Channel Outdoor Advertising provided free sites around the city.

A stall with a giant white ribbon was staffed in the Student Union foyer for a week to catch students who were intrigued with the teaser White ribbon ads that they had seen. Students came in stopped, signed their ribbon (commitment) and had their photo taken by a digital camera. This photo was then added to the giant white ribbon. Costs , apart from the posters and sites were some copying, and ribbons.

Lessons

• It had been intended to have celebrity photos on the white ribbon as well. This is a priority in order to make it a focal point.
• It is easy to walk straight past a stall in the foyer.
• Press work needs to be carried out as well around the campaign.
• Get photos downloaded early- Some excellent photos of the campaign went when a digital camera was stolen from the University Womens Office.

Manchester Metropolitan University January- March 2006
After receiving a brief from White Ribbon Campaign, Students from the School of Design undertook project work to develop White ribbon Campaign by redesigning banners and posters to better appeal to a younger audience.

The poster campaign described above involved Manchester Metropolitan University to a lesser extent than Manchester University.

Lessons
Always need more student help to design new merchandise, plan and carry out campaigns, undertake press and media liaison.

Leeds University Students Union February 2006

Leeds University Amnesty Group Stop Violence against Women campaign organized the first student white ribbon event.

Booking space in one of the Union's coffee shop/bar we set up a stall over lunchtime and through till mid afternoon (11.30- 3.00). Some volunteers went out leafleting around the Union building. A large banner explained the White Ribbon Campaign.

We invited male students to come up and fill in a questionnaire, with the incentive of getting a cake or a chance to win a voucher of the University Union shop.
The cakes had white ribbons iced on the top

After filling in the questionnaire they could browse through the ribbons and badges, and choose to join the campaign.

80 male students came up and did the questionnaire , browsed through the material went away wearing their ribbons. Some short discussions ensued, and a couple of them offered to take part more widely in white ribbon activities.

We used a 3 page questionnaire, which has now been reduced to 2 sides, and which now includes a response sheet.

As an awareness raising and attitude researching event it was very successful.

Costs involved were Photocopying questionnaires and leaflets,(Downloadable)Cake materials and Shop vouchers (Donated), Ribbons and Merchandise (Self-funding)

Lessons:

• The venue choice was excellent. By being in the relaxed coffee bar it was possible for people to take their time, have a discussion, think about their responses.
• The students who came were thoughtful about their responses, and spent time considering the options so as a thought provoking event it was successful.
• IT is a very low cost event to run, but does require some preplanning and quite a few volunteers. It might be interesting to follow it up with a lunchtime workshop for any of those men who want to be involved in some other campaigning.
• Useful to have materials there from Respect, Broken Rainbow, Men's Healthline to make sure that there is the possibility to refer people if required

Swansea University Students Union - November 2005

Swansea University Students Union Womens Office ordered ribbons and distributed them on November 25th , International Day to eradicate Violence against Women.

York St john Students Union

Over lunchtime outside the coffee bar 50 male students filled in questionnaires about their knowledge and attitude to violence in return for the choice of a cake or a ribbon.

The Union had downloaded a lot of White Ribbon materials from the website, printed them up and displayed them around the Union and in the Toilets.

The President of the Student Union and a Banana were among those who got involved- see pictures

Cambridge University Students Union

A couple of year ago Cambridge had a really good idea of the queue jump white ribbon- see below

"You can get your white ribbon in your college from your womens officer, College Union President, Porter's Lodge/Union Shop, or at the GU Shop, or CUSU Reception. Your White Ribbon will get you a queue jump for all CUSU Clubnights before 11 this week, as well as queue jump and ?1 off entry betwwen 9pm - 12am at COCOs on November 23rd."

This year Cambridge took 3000 ribbons on sale or return and donated profits on ribbons to local womens groups.

Bury College

A team of firefighters police officers, DV Co-ordinator and White Ribbon volunteers had a stand at the coffee bar in Bury College, and collected 180 replies to a simple questionnaire. Hope to go back there when the music campaign has been developed in the spring.

Glasgow Caledonian University

A stall was held at Glasgow Caledonian University for two weeks from November 25th.

There was also a gig and launch event for White Ribbon Scotland at the University which had many celebrity men endorsing the campaign including the author Christopher Brookmyre, Comedian Richard Wilson, and Scotland football manager Walter Smith. For a full list of the supporters and their statements see http://www.scotland.gov.uk /News/Releases/2006/11/2408072 5