As part of the campaign, students from Wellington High, St Mary’s Catholic School and Yeoval took part in a Love Bites educational program and at the end of it they created posters for the day.

St Mary’s captains Sam Hunt and Nick Trappett also promoted the event on the radio, and male role models of the town all signed a pledge to put an end to any violence they witnessed.

“It’s looking at healthy relationships,” Women’s Health Nurse Nicky Giddings said.

“Looking at what’s healthy and what’s not. 

“Getting people to look out for themselves but also getting friends to look out for friends. 

“Often women are not really up on the little signs and that can include what’s not healthy.”

A member of the Wellington Domestic Violence Collective which has been active for 14 years, Mrs Giddings said that the committee had overseen many successful programs such as STRAWS.

She said that particularly in the last year the many service providers of Wellington had noticed an increase in the number of women coming forward in times of need, adding that she hoped the awareness continued to grow.

Wellington mayor Rod Buhr, who signed the pledge, said that it was important to get young people involved in the program.

“As we know domestic violence in the community is a big problem,” he said.

“There are a lot of aspects that people don’t understand - especially young kids if it is going on in the house ... they begin to think it’s acceptable.”

“Hopefully this will

bring a greater understanding and begin to break the cycle.”