Merseyside company’s kind gesture as region comes together for Zoe’s Place

£5 million must be raised by November 9 to keep the charity going

Directors Andrew Dwerryhouse, John Howarth and Chris Dwerryhouse at Wild Thang in Liverpool(Image: Liverpool Echo)

A Bootle clothing printing company has supported the Liverpool ECHO’s Zoe’s Place fundraiser. A group of ECHO staff will be walking from our office in Old Hall Street to West Derby children’s hospice and back – a distance of 10 miles – to raise money.

Beloved charity it needs to raise a further £5 million to cover a funding gap before 9 November to continue operating and the ECHO has joined a city-wide campaign to raise the necessary funds. The campaign was led by West Derby MP Ian Byrne, who on Thursday said he was “very optimistic” about saving the hospicebut urged Merseysiders to “keep their feet on the pedal”.

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In meeting at ACC Liverpool on 24 Octobera group of volunteers from the region’s business community have announced that a new Liverpool-based charity called ‘Zoe’s Place Liverpool’ is in the works to replace the current one. The hospice is currently run by Zoe’s Place Trust in Leamington Spa.

According to the organisers, the new charity will be “operated and funded by an organization based in Liverpool and led by people from Liverpool”. Any money that is raised locally or nationally for the project will be paid into the new Liverpool charity.

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New administrators based in Liverpool have already been appointed and the group is in the process of registering the organization with the Charity Commission and Companies House. They expect it to be set up within a week and hope to be fully independent by February.

Zoe’s place says around £4m is still needed and people from Merseyside and beyond they did incredible things to support the crowdfunding campaignincluding charity comedy events, raffles and sporting challenges. Wild Thang, a branded clothing company based on Derby Road in Bootleprinted and donated shirts for the ECHO sponsored walk.

Andrew Dwerryhouse, managing director, said ECHO: “At Wild Thang, we are incredibly proud to have partnered to support Liverpool ECHOhis sponsored walk to raise vital funds for Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice, which will be forced to close if the necessary funds are not raised in time to save this incredibly important organization so it can continue to provide care and support to unmatched by those who need it most.

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Liverpool ECHO staff in Zoe’s Place t-shirts supplied by Wild Thang(Image: Liverpool Echo)

“When the ECHO contacted Wild Thang, we jumped at the chance to support their fundraising efforts by offering free custom printed t-shirts and a large donation check that will show the amount raised. We hope this will raise awareness of the plight of Zoe’s Place and encourage others to join us in supporting this invaluable organisation.

“It’s really great to see momentum building and both individuals and businesses in the Liverpool City Region coming together as we always do as a community to support this amazing charity and we’re proud to have played a small part in supporting.”

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ECHO staff members will travel from our city center office to Zoe’s place to Yew Tree Lane and back on Saturday morning. At the time of writing we have raised over £2,500 and the total fundraising effort is just under £2.5 million. £6.4m needs to be raised in total (with £1.4m raised before the funding gap was announced) meaning the target is £5m in donations.

To donate to the ECHO fundraiser for Zoe’s Place, click here.