GALA Fairydean Rovers football club have given their backing to the White Ribbon pledge.

The drive has been set up to put an end to violence against women and players and committee members from the club have all shown their support for the campaign.

And although it is aimed at men, women can also sign the pledge.

The global movement 16 Days of Action was founded 25 years ago by the Women’s Global Leadership Institute and runs each year from Friday, November 25 - the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women - until Saturday, December 10, which is International Human Rights Day.

Councillor Donald Moffat, SBC’s Executive Member for Community Safety, said: “We are grateful to the support of Gala Fairydean Rovers and hope other sports clubs in the Borders will join us in never condoning violence of any kind towards women.

“The White Ribbon pledge is open to all men in the Borders, not just those involved in sports clubs. It takes just a couple of minutes to complete but each person who does so is contributing to the campaign to end all violence against women.

“No-one should live in fear of abuse, whether that be domestic, childhood or sexual and we hope 16 Days of Action will help tackle this issue.”

Graeme McIver, Secretary of Gala Fairydean Rovers, added: “Gala Fairydean Rovers FC is proud to add our name to the growing list of sporting organisations who have signed the White Ribbon pledge that commits us to never excuse or remain silent about violence against women and girls.

“The club continues to work hard to ensure that we provide a safe and respectful environment for everyone in our community and will not tolerate racist, sexist, sectarian or homophobic behaviour.”

Sports clubs are encouraged to send photos of themselves signing the pledge to SBC’s Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #16Days.
To sign up, visit: http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/whiteribbon