Adelaide Crows play North Melbourne in support of a great cause

Key points:

• Australian Football League [AFL] team, the Adelaide Crows will take on North Melbourne on Saturday July 1 at 1:15pm (ACST)
• The Round 16 clash is in support of mental health awareness and vital research to support those combating mental health issues
• One-in-two young people in Australia are impacted by suicide by the time they turn 25, according to the Breakthrough Foundation

South Australia’s blue, yellow and red AFL team have been training in purple for the upcoming match at Adelaide Oval against Victoria’s North Melbourne Kangaroos. Although they’ll don the standard tricolour garb this weekend, the men have been hard at work in purple to raise awareness of and encourage fans to back, the Breakthrough Foundation. The Adelaide non-profit research organisation strives to support the 44 percent of Aussies who will experience a mental health crisis during their life.

Breakthrough Foundation’s Nine Lives Project draws attention to the estimated nine lives lost each day to suicide. The initiative encourages footy fans to buy a virtual seat on behalf of the people affected by suicide.

• In 2020, 454 young people aged 15 – 24 died by suicide, representing 21.2 deaths by suicide per 100,000 people
• Over one-third of deaths in 15 – 24 year olds are due to suicide
• Suicide was the most common cause of death for adults aged 15 – 44, with 1,612 deaths by suicide in this group
• Consistent with previous years, males are around three times more likely to die by suicide than females
• Males accounted for 75.9 percent of deaths by suicide [2,384 deaths]

The Foundation’s mission statement states that researchers “[aim to] create a life free from mental illness through funding research across four key focus areas: youth mental health, depression, indigenous mental health and eating disorders.”

Virtual seat purchases made through the Nine Lives Project website will be directly supporting the non-profit’s important work and let people pay tribute to someone they wish could attend the footy with them. Purchasers are given a chance to be randomly selected for Saturday’s coin-flip and receive tickets to the game.

Attendees will be able to purchase a Breakthrough Foundation beanie for $20 dollars at Adelaide Oval’s southern and eastern gates which will contribute to research and accessible support for those dealing with mental health crises.

South Aussie staple, Foodland have backed the cause and have committed to a $500 donation for each Crows goal kicked. The serious AFL enthusiasts will also have a shot to bid on an auction of player-signed purple guernseys, with money going towards the great cause.

The auction, raising funds for Breakthrough, will open at 10am on Thursday, June 29 and close at 4pm on Wednesday, July 5. To toss in a few quid and secure your bid, check out the Project’s website. Breakthrough Foundation Chief Executive Officer [CEO] John Mannion told Adelaide Crows’ communications specialist Natasha Wade the public support is dearly needed.

“The Club, its members, and its fans have always shown an ability to come together in solidarity with one another. We need that now more than ever, so we ask everyone to come together again to help create a life free from mental illness,” said Mr Mannion.

Nine purple chairs will be left vacant behind the goal posts of Adelaide Oval during the match to signify the impact of mental health crises and the need for the support on the rest of the public.