The appointment of Richard Pratt as President of the Carlton Football Club has received overwhelming support with membership and corporate sales increasing by as much as 40% over the last week. There is a sense of excitement and anticipation, almost overnight the perception of Carlton has changed and there is a renewed positive feeling around the ClubTo symbolize the start of the Blues climb and to prepare for the Carlton Family Day at MC Labour Park this Sunday Andrew Walker, Jarrad Waite and Brad Fisher tested their climbing skills on the Anaconda climbing wall earlier today.“The wall will be part of the many attractions for our members and supporters to enjoy at Sunday’s Family Day and it is appropriate as it really does represent the climb we have ahead of us in 2007. Importantly we are very confident that like climbing the wall today, the Carlton Football Club will make some very important steps on and off the field in 2007,” said Walker.Carlton Membership for 2007 is now over 20,000 with more than 1,500 members joining in the last ten days. This is around 4,000 more members than for the same period last year and has already exceeded the initial target of 15,000 members at the start of the NAB Cup. This is expected to be further boosted this week with the start of the NAB Cup and the Carlton Family Day being held at MC Labour Park this Sunday, February 25th.When he was announced as the new Carlton President Richard Pratt said, “I am back… now I want everyone back at Carlton” and it appears that Carlton supporters are very keen to join Richard Pratt as part of the Carlton team in 2007.“We have set a membership target of 32,000 in 2007 and the boost received over the last week has ensured this target is a real possibility. Not only have we exceeded our original NAB Cup target but we are closing in on our round one membership target. Obviously the performance on the field will play an important role in achieving our target once the season commences,” said CEO, Michael Malouf.Carlton’s Membership was at a record 33,534 in 2005 however this reduced to 28,756 last year following disappointing on-field results. While disappointing, last years membership numbers were the 4th highest in the club’s history, also behind the figures in 2003 (33,252) and 2004 (32,445) but still ahead of the then record of 27,725 in 2001.Richard Pratt said he was looking for everyone to participate in the Club and based on the response following his appointment Carlton supporters are obviously listening and taking action.