Charity begins at the Town Hall

Moneyboxes designed by the new Lord Mayor of Liverpool are going on sale this week as one of a number of unique ways to raise money for charity.

Local residents and visitors to the city are being asked to support the Lord Mayor’s homelessness charity work by buying one of the three brightly coloured house shaped moneyboxes.

By purchasing a ‘City of Liverpool’ Money Bank – £5 each in either transparent red, blue or white – members of the public will not only be donating to the Lord Mayor’s charities but will also have their own way of saving for a rainy day. Pop into Liverpool’s Town Hall and pick on up.

It is just one of a number of exciting ideas being driven by the Lord Mayor’s new Charity Fundraising Committee, chaired by the Lord Mayor’s Consort, Steve Macfarlane.

Steve Macfarlane said: “We’ve got a fantastic team of dedicated professionals who between them have already raised several million for other charities and good causes.” 

“This is going to be an exciting year and we wanted to offer something that people could keep and that would be unique to the current Lord Mayor’s year.

“We have some fantastic events planned and interesting ideas to build on and the team have already helped make a big difference to what we can do together.

“We are sure that the very generous people of Liverpool will be there to support all that we do over the next 12 months.”

Another scheme is the Lord Mayor’s ‘1000 Club’, in which 1000 large companies and organisations are being approached by the committee to consider donating £1000 either as a one-off donation or spread over the course of a year.

And, for the first time ever, people can donate by text message. Simply text the words donation LMAY followed by the amount to 70070. So if you want to give £10 you would type donation LMAY13 £10 and send it to 70070.

Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Gary Millar, added: “I have set a significant target for my charity for the next 12 months and recognise we need to be doing something entrepreneurial and exciting.  That’s why I love the idea of the moneyboxes, I think it’s a great and fun way to start raising money for some very worthy causes.

“For this year I want to raise funds to tackle cancer and homelessness; to support vulnerable, special educational needs and disabled children; and to create a safe haven for LGBT youth.

“My nominated charities are all doing fantastic work in this city and as I’ve already been involved in what they do I wanted to use my term as Lord Mayor to help them make a real difference.  This amazing committee will do a great job and I know our fundraising is in the best hands.”

The committee, made up of 14 members – including one from each of the chosen charities – has also set plans in motion for several major events, one of which will be the annual Lord Mayor’s Ball.

The full list of charity committee members is:

1. Steve Macfarlane, Chair (Lord Mayor’s Consort)
2. Lyn Staunton – Variety, the Children’s Charity
3. Ruth McCaughley – The Whitechapel Centre
4. Danny Kilbride – Michael Causer Foundation
5. Rebecca Grimes – Linda McCartney Centre & R Charity
6. Clare Bevan – LCVS
7. Stuart Fitzgerald – Buy Liverpool Savers & Entrepreneur
8. Sylvia Lewis – Professional Fundraiser
9. Jayne Moore – Moore PR & Media
10. Maxine Shiselle – Artist & Fundraiser
11. Maureen Walsh – Radio Broadcaster
12. Colin Ling – Chairman, Chinese Wellbeing
13. Margaret Harry – Fundraiser
14. Chris Shirling-Rooke – Founder & Chair of Positivity Club/Commercial Director of Mersey Maritime

 

Liverpool Waterfront