Northern Territory’s Greater Palmerston United Football Club, in collaboration with Football NT, will host its first ever community fundraiser with a dedicated charity round at Darwin Football Stadium in support of anti bullying organisation, Dolly’s Dream.
The inaugural event is expected to attract over 400 spectators and will see the club’s players take a stand against bullying with a be kind and don’t tolerate bullying message.
With a fundraising target of $2000, the club will run a raffle with prizes gifted by local businesses and members of Parliament, as well as canteen sales and shaker tins; all proceeds on the day will be donated to the Dolly’s Dream foundation.
The Do It For Dolly Day round will see teams presenting each other with awards after each game in the spirit of kindness and good sportsmanship with the GPUFC players donning ‘Kindness Changes Everything’ across their match day jerseys.
Discussing the club’s involvement, GPUFC President, Melissa Schulz said, “We’re in a unique position as a club to push an anti-bullying message with players aged 6-14 years old – a broad yet prime age-group for bullying. In sport the majority of players respect each other but we do see and hear all sorts of interactions during training and games, from harmless fun to misguided and sometimes malicious comments. Our job is to highlight the differences between the two and push our players to ‘be kind’ instead of participating in behaviour that could potentially hurt others. After all, kindness changes everything.”
In 2019, the Australian Health & Welfare Institution reported that 1 in 5 Australians aged between 15-19 years old experienced bullying in the previous 12 months. In 2020, 44 per cent of Australians aged 12-17 years old experienced at least one negative online experience within a six-month period.
“We wanted to align with a charity that hits close to home for us,” said Melissa.
“We’re such a young club with many players who have experienced bullying at the hands of other children and we know this behaviour starts from a young age, which is why it is important for clubs like us to speak out and take a stand against bullying.”
The Greater Palmerston United Football Club Dolly’s Day charity round will be held from 8:30am-11:30am on May 15 at the Darwin Football Club – 23 Abala Rd, Marrara NT.
Donations can be made here or in person at the Dolly’s Day round.
Do It For Dolly Day is on Friday 13 May 2022. To find out more visit https://dollysdream.org.au/do-it-for-dolly-day/