On Thursday, November 30, Abby Sopniewski, Brooke Tangye and Taylah Brooks will travel to the National Galley of Australia in Canberra to host Project O’s Colourathon alongside domestic violence campaigner and 2015 Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty. 

The Colourathon is a 12 hour colouring marathon that is expected to draw a crowd of a few thousand people.

There will also be small satellite events at Cooma, Roebourne, Wynyard Tasmania and locally at Bega’s Women’s Resource Centre.

The three girls hope to raise enough funds from the Colourathon to support training for play therapy in the region, a way of communicating with traumatised children to encourage them to express feelings through play.

“We want better resources for victims of family violence and raise awareness about the issue to actually get people to talking about it,” Taylah said. 

As members of Project O, the girls are part of a network of 40 young women between 12 and 25 years old across four locations, Roeburne in Western Australia, Wynyard in Tasmania, Canberra ACT and Cooma in NSW.

Project O is a a prevention project run by Big hART which aims to combat the entrenched issue of domestic violence in regional and remote locations.

Abby said that before joining Project O, she was unaware of issues surrounding family violence, such as toxic relationships and youth homelessness.

“We don’t get taught about this kind of stuff at school, so for me it’s important to tell my friends about it and hopefully they will pass it onto their friends too,” she said. 

On the back of each colouring in template is a letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Minister for Women Michaelia Cash calling for more resources to combat domestic violence.

Participants can sign the letter and Project O will deliver it on their behalf. 

The Bega Colourathon will be held at the Women’s Resource Centre from 1.30-3.30pm on Thursday, November 30.

A $2 cost per person will go toward the Project O fundraising campaign.