The sayNO2familyviolence initiative was initiated by the Rotary Club of Maryborough, Vic, in 2014. It started as a program to raise awareness of the problems associated with family violence in the Maryborough community.
In 2017, the Rotary Clubs of Portland Bay and Portland made it a joint project in their local Glenelg shire.
To top off the year in 2022, United Way and AWA Alliance bank supported a ‘Shark Pitch’, where three organisations were chosen from many to take part in a community fundraising event.
The sayNO2familyviolence and schools collaborative were successful in their pitch to raise funds for a whole of Glenelg Shire secondary schools week of presentations by not-for-profit organisation Collective Shout on the sexualisation of children in the media. This is something the schools feel very strongly about, but had previously been unable to raise funds for.
Together with the Rotary Clubs of Portland and Portland Bay, Local Learning and Employment Network, Victoria Police, Glenelg Shire, and Portland District Health, who are partners in the SayNO2familyviolenceglenelg committee, the collaborative was successful in raising over $28,000 – enough to support the week-long roster of Collective Shout presentations to all secondary school children in the Glenelg Shire, along with parents, teachers and a community group. The presentations will run from June 5-8, 2023.