The Collingwood Football Club believes in the right of all Australians – men, women and children – to live free of violence.

To entrench this right, to make it real, change must occur and Collingwood believes that a continuous constructive conversation will be vital to changing the attitudes of people who resort to violence, who are victims of violence or consider violence to be something less than a serious issue in society.

Collingwood actively works with women and children affected by the trauma of domestic violence through a number of its community initiatives.

Collingwood’s Magpie Nest Program, in partnership with the Salvation Army Project 614 Team, provides wrap-around case management and accommodation for disadvantaged individuals, including women and children escaping domestic violence. This includes houses established exclusively for women.

The club will hold its Celebrating Women event on Saturday 23 July to raise funds for both the Magpie Nest Program and the Luke Batty Foundation, supporting disadvantaged women and children in crisis. 2015 Australian of the Year and anti-violence campaigner Rosie Batty will be the guest speaker at the event.

Collingwood is also a member of the Male Champions of Change coalition working to achieve change on gender equality issues in organisations and communities, and has recently opened its new Glasshouse facilities designed to provide a safe, state-of-the art sports and community centre for women in the heart of Melbourne’s Olympic Park precinct.

With this, the very clear view of the board of Collingwood is that there is no place in our community for the support of violent behaviour or language, even in humour.