Hull City will help to highlight the problem of domestic violence in Hull with the release of 2,469 balloons ahead of Sunday's home game against Everton.

Every single balloon represents 10 women in the city who have experienced domestic violence in the past year.

The balloons will be released by Simon Hunter who will represent NHS Hull accompanied by 9 year old Tiger's fan James Lee who represents the future generations of Hull men.  Their action, in releasing the balloons, symbolises those 24,000 victims breaking free from the fear of domestic abuse.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, will today give his backing to a major new social marketing initiative which will tackle the problem of domestic violence and abuse in Hull.

Every year in this city it is estimated that there are over 24,000 cases of domestic violence and three quarters of these go unreported.  12% of children in Hull are living in households where there is domestic violence, meaning that in an average class of 30 pupils, the lives of three or four children will be affected.

NHS Hull, Hull Citysafe and partner organisations will launch the project and make the commitment to tackling this issue by developing new services to work with the perpetrators of domestic abuse and support them to change their behaviour.  This will be the first programme of its kind in this country and will be using some of the principals of the award winning campaign in Western Australia - Freedom from Fear.

The launch of this project deliberately coincides with the weekend of Peace One Day (Sunday 21st September).  Peace One Day represents an opportunity for individuals, communities and nations to rise above violence, conflict and differences.

Jeremy Gilley, founder of Peace One Day said:

""Last year on Peace One Day there were commitments by approximately 100 million people in over 200 countries.  It's been really successful."

"Peace One Day is a day of ceasefire and a day of non violence.  It was really important that the words non violence were added to the United Nation's resolution because it's not just about wars between countries, it's also about the wars and the violence it our homes, in our communities and in our schools.  It's crucial that we resolve this."

Hull City Chairman Paul Duffen said: 

"Hull City AFC is pleased to support this initiative to tackle the important issue of domestic violence in our city. Sunday's game against Everton on September 21st offers an ideal opportunity to support Peace One Day and the spirit of the One Day One Goal campaign which will see football matches across the world played to celebrate co-operation, unity and the power of football to bring people together.  One Day One Goal is an opportunity for individuals, communities and nations to rise above violence, conflict and difference to celebrate a shared passion and a common goal."

Christopher Long is the Chief Executive of NHS Hull the lead partner in the project.  He spoke about the reasons for adopting this approach:

"Whilst figures indicate that recorded violent crime in the city is falling, instances of domestic violence are on the increase.  We fully acknowledge that launching a service to offer help for perpetrators may seem controversial.  However, unless we start the address the real root of the issue, the abusive behaviour itself, we will not be offering real hope to victims because the cycle of abuse will just continue.

"What we will be providing is a confidential support service to men who want to change their abusive behaviour.  These may even be men who haven't crossed that line yet but are aware of where their actions may lead and want to seek help before it's too late.  What we need to remember is that abusive behaviour is not necessarily physical violence it may be controlling actions such as stopping a partner seeing her friends and family or preventing her from going out.

"We are working closely with all our partner agencies and the service will be developed in such a way that it will complement the support already available to victims.  Domestic violence is not just an issue that affects the victim but also their whole family and tackling the issue is not just a job for the police or the courts but for the community as a whole.  By the whole city acknowledging the problem and addressing it head on we can really move forward to make our city a safer place to live."