Australian Professional Leagues partners with DonateLife
The Australian Professional Leagues has revealed that DonateLife will become an official partner of both the A-League and the W-League for the next two years.
The announcement:
Players and clubs from the A-League and W-League will become part of one of Australia’s most important campaigns, thanks to a unique partnership aiming to drive awareness of organ and tissue donation.
In partnership with the Organ and Tissue Authority, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) has today revealed that DonateLife will become an official partner of both competitions for the next two years.
Using a range of events at A-League and W-League games, plus online content, the nation’s elite footballers will bid to spread the message of how many lives could be saved by more Aussies registering as organ and tissue donors.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have hit organ and tissue donation hard, with a 12% decline in in people receiving a transplant and a 16% decrease in donors.
As a result some 1800 Australians are waiting for a transplant, and 12,000 others are on dialysis and could benefit from a kidney transplant in the future – underscoring the need to drive awareness among potential donors and their families across the country.
“The gift of life is as precious a thing to bestow as it is possible to imagine, and it is an honour for us to help spread this vital message,” said APL managing director Danny Townsend.
“Our audience is as diverse as any sport in the country but in particular, so many young adults play football, and that demographic is under-represented on the national donor register.
“Our clubs and our players can help to spark that conversation among our supporters about the importance of becoming a registered donor. The football community is extraordinarily powerful and to have it unite behind a campaign like DonateLife can make a huge difference.”
As part of the campaign, fans and club ambassadors will tell their stories of being impacted by organ and tissue donation, while both the A-League and W-League will feature a DonateLife-themed round.
Run by the Organ and Tissue Authority, the DonateLife campaign aims to maximise donation rates and raise community awareness to promote organ and tissue donation.
Research shows that 90% of families will consent to the donation of the organs of a loved one if they had previously registered as a donor.
Source: APL media release
