John O’Donnell named Aviva Community Player of the Season

The first award of the night at the Park Lane Hilton went to John O’Donnell from Sale Sharks who was named Aviva Community Player of the Season, an honour which celebrates players’ involvement in their club’s community foundations and their work with a variety of other charities.

O'Donnell started volunteering at Wigan Youth Zone when he first signed with Sale Sharks in July 2014, and has been supporting them ever since to help engage children from deprived backgrounds in a wide range of activities, to develop them as individuals, but to also give them a strong network of support.

Aviva Community Player of the Season shortlist:

Don Armand – Exeter Chiefs
Sam Betty – Worcester Warriors
Will Fraser – Saracens
John O’Donnell – Sale Sharks
Bobby Vickers – Newcastle Falcons

Debbie Bullock, Aviva’s Community Investment Manager, was one of the judges. She said: “One of the key things about John’s work was that it was a long-term commitment, three days a week over an extended period of time.

“That’s an awful lot of time over and above his regular training commitments and he was very impassioned about the work because it is in his home area.

“It was clear that he wanted to give something back to the community that he grew up in and he is definitely doing that, working with a really challenging group of people who benefited massively from what he was doing.”