Warrington was the site of a regional Soroptimist event as the White Ribbon Campaign’s baton relay passed through the town.
Domestic violence increases at times of big sporting events. To raise awareness of this, the White Ribbon Campaign sent a baton around the country with it arriving in London for the start of the 2012 Olympic Games.
The Warrington club is part of the South Lancashire region of Soroptimist International. Working with other clubs in the region, representatives of various organisations working to eliminate domestic violence, the police, the north west bikers and Tesco, we helped give the baton a good send-off on its way to Newcastle-Under-Lyme in Staffordshire.
The club presented the bikers with white ribbons to wear on the ride. Soroptimists also gave out leaflets and postcards to shoppers at Tesco and spoke to people about the campaign. Tesco provided bacon rolls and a hot drink for the riders and Lidl provided cereal bars and juice for the ride. The baton was handed over to the bikers by Warrington mayor Steve Wright before the bikers headed off – taking with them the council’s Maria Guidera as a pillion passenger. Maria co-ordinates domestic abuse services for the council and was in full “biker chick” costume.