A Scottish college leader’s relentless campaigning to end violence against women and girls has been recognised.

Alan Sherry, principal at Glasgow Kelvin College, has become an ambassador for the charity White Ribbon Scotland. The charity is a branch of an ever-growing movement that began in Canada in 1991.

The movement was launched by a group of men in response to the killing of 14 women at Polytechnique Montréal university campus two years earlier in 1989. A gunman, who claimed he was “fighting feminism”, targeted women engineers in classrooms and corridors in an attack lasting 20 minutes.

The founders of the movement wore white ribbons to symbolise non-violence and pledged to “never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women and girls”. People in more than 60 countries now proudly wear the ribbons.

Mr Sherry has worked with staff and students over the past two years to embed a strong message against violence towards women throughout the college’s work. It was the college’s student association that spearheaded the campaign, with college leadership also getting on board.

Mr Sherry said he was honoured to take on the role for White Ribbon. He added: “The Glasgow Kelvin Student Association has been instrumental in rolling the White Ribbon Scotland message out to our communities and giving men a voice in opposing violence against women.

“Being asked to undertake this role as ambassador is, I feel, a strong recognition of all their hard work in ensuring that this key message is passed on through the generations.”

White Ribbon Scotland campaign director Davy Thompson said that more role models like Mr Sherry are needed. He added: “If we are going to be successful in our campaign to engage men in the elimination of violence against women, we need the support of men such as Alan Sherry.”