THE CARLTON Football Club’s AFL playing group today donated $10,000 to the Blues Foundation in support of the Carlton Respects initiative as part of their AFL Players Care commitment.

A collective decision was made by the playing group to make the donation to Carlton Respects to further help aid and support the Club’s work in promoting gender equality for the prevention of violence against women.

Carlton Respects does this through education in schools, where the program reached 4,000 students in Victoria, 13 workplaces and recording 1.5 million impressions across social media.

Simone O’Brien, an ambassador for Carlton Respects, shared her personal story of abuse and survival with the playing group before the players presented their cheque for $10,000.

The cheque was received by Blues Foundation Chair Judy Mullen, who has played a major role in governance of Carlton Respects alongside Our Watch CEO and Carlton Board member Patty Kinnersly: the latter was interstate and unable to attend the presentation.

Making their donation today (November 25) had extra incentive as it coincided with the first day of the 16 Days of Activism campaign: a global initiative calling for the elimination of violence against women and girls.

The contribution was part of AFL Players Care, the players’ official charity initiative from the AFL Players’ Association, where every player donates $50 per game from their match payments.

The players donation is split between the AFLPA official charity partner, Ladder – a charity which tackles youth homelessness and the AFL Players Care Fund - and a charity of the playing group's choosing.

From this fund, $180,000 is equally spread across the 18 male AFL clubs, with Carlton players’ choosing to donate their share to the Carlton Respects initiative.

For more information please visit www.carltonrespects.com.au.