Hawthorn Mental Health Ambassador Taylor Duryea has presented Patrice O’Brien from beyondblue with a $10,000 donation, on behalf of the Hawthorn Football Club.

Established in 2014, the AFL Players Care Program is an initiative that enables players to give back and support a charity they are passionate about.

Through the program, all AFL players donate $50 each per game, with half of the donation helping to tackle youth homelessness in Australia and the other half going to a charity of each club’s discretion.

Hawthorn’s Mental Health Program Ambassadors, Cyril Rioli and Taylor Duryea, voiced why beyondblue were a fitting organisation for the donation.

“The playing group were really keen to donate these funds to an organisation that affects real change in the mental health space and with our long-standing partnership with beyondblue we thought they would be a terrific choice,” Duryea said.

“Mental health is a key community focus area for the club, which we continue to build upon through our partnerships with beyondblue.

“Anxiety and depression can affect anyone, so we hope this donation aids beyondblue in their efforts to provide information and support to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health.”

Read: Hawks to play beyondblue Cup

Upon receiving the cheque, Workplace General Manager Patrice O’Brien thanked the club on behalf of everyone at beyondblue.

“This money will go towards our support service, which is 24 hours a day, seven days a week available for all Australians and it will help us answer an additional 200 calls,” O'Brien said.

“We know from the feedback we get from people who call our support service that the support service really does save lives, so this money will go to a great cause and we are really grateful for our ongoing relationship with the Hawthorn Football Club.”

With three million Australians currently experiencing anxiety or depression, Hawthorn Football club urges all supporters to make mental health a priority.

Mental health professionals are available 24/7 at the beyondblue Support Service – 1300 22 46 36 or via beyondblue.org.au/get-support for online chat (3pm-12am AEST) or email response.