£5m must be raised by November 9 to keep the charity operating
A Bootle clothing printing company has supported the Liverpool ECHO’s fundraiser for Zoe’s Place. A group of ECHO staff members will walk from our Old Hall Street office to the West Derby children’s hospice and back again – a distance of 10 miles – in order to raise money.
The beloved charity must raise an extra £5m to cover a funding gap before November 9 in order to keep operating and the ECHO has joined a city-wide campaign to raise the required funds. The campaign has been spear-headed by West Derby MP Ian Byrne, who on Thursday said he is “massively optimistic” about saving the hospice, but urged the people of Merseyside to “keep their feet on the pedal”.
In the meeting at ACC Liverpool on October 24, a group of volunteers from the region’s business community announced that a new Liverpool-based charity called ‘Zoe’s Place Liverpool’ is being created to replace the current one. As it stands, the running of the hospice is overseen by the Leamington Spa-based ‘Zoe’s Place Trust’.
READ MORE: ‘We’re massively optimistic’: nearly £3m raised as ‘Zoe’s Place 2.0’ unveiledREAD MORE: Ian Byrne takes Zoe’s Place campaign to Westminster as he writes to Chancellor Rachel Reeves
According to organisers, the new charity will be “operated by and funded by an organisation based in Liverpool and run by people from Liverpool”. Any money that is raised locally or nationally for the project will reportedly be paid into the new Liverpool-based charity.
New Liverpool-based trustees have already been appointed, and the group is in the process of registering the organisation with the Charity Commission and Companies House. They expect it to be established within a week and hope to be fully independent by February.
Zoe’s Place says around £4m is still required and people from across Merseyside and beyond have been doing incredible things to support the crowd-funding campaign, including charity comedy events, raffles and sporting challenges. Wild Thang, a branded clothing company based on Derby Road in Bootle, has printed and donated shirts for the ECHO’s sponsored walk.
Andrew Dwerryhouse, managing director, told the ECHO: “At Wild Thang, we are incredibly proud to have partnered to support the Liverpool ECHO’s sponsored walk to raise critical funds for Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice, who will be forced to closed unless the necessary funds are raised in time to save this incredibly important organisation so they can continue delivering their unparalleled care and support to those most at need.
“When the ECHO reached out to Wild Thang, we jumped at the chance to help support their fundraising efforts by providing free custom-designed printed t-shirts and a large donation cheque which will display the amount raised. We hope this will increase awareness of the plight of Zoe’s Place and encourage others to join us in supporting this invaluable organisation.
“It’s truly wonderful to see momentum building and both individuals and businesses across the Liverpool City Region coming together as we always do as a community to support this amazing charity, and we are proud to have played a small part in helping support.”
ECHO staff members will walk from our city centre office to Zoe’s Place on Yew Tree Lane and back again on Saturday morning. At the time of writing, we have raised more than £2,500 and the overall fundraising effort stands at just under £2.5m. £6.4m must be raised in total (with £1.4m raised before the funding gap was announced) meaning that the target is £5m in donations.
To donate to the ECHO’s fundraiser for Zoe’s Place, click here.
