On Thursday 26th April, at our home match against Abbey Hey, City of Liverpool FC held a fundraising event on behalf of Down Syndrome Liverpool. 

Maria Manning, who is married to The Purps' club secretary Peter, is on the committee of Down Syndrome Liverpool, and her sister Ana Gilmurray is the Chairperson of the organisation. 

COLFC Media Director Gary Johansen said "As a club, we have close connections with Down Syndrome Liverpool, and we also had a fundraising event with them last season, so we were pleased to be able to go ahead with another event before the season finished" 

Ana Gilmurray added "We were delighted to be able to hold a fundraising collection at City of Liverpool, and we want to express our thanks to all those at the club for allowing us to do so. We also sold raffle tickets and, as ever, the fans were incredibly supportive of our charity".

Ana continued, "We promise to use the £102.74 raised, to enhance the lives of our families and we have lots of plans over the coming months including a trip to Drayton Manor, a training event for professionals and sessions to help our youngsters with their speech. So we would like to express a sincere heartfelt thanks to everyone of the fans who put in to the collection as it means the world to us to have your support".

You can follow Down Syndrome Liverpool on Twitter @DownSyndromeLPL or check out their website on http://downsyndromeliverpool.org.uk/

City of Liverpool FC were delighted to finally be able to facilitate a fundraising event on behalf of North West Air Ambulance at their home match against AFC Darwen last Saturday. 

Purps Media Director Gary Johansen explained "We had originally arranged for this event to take place on 16th December last year when we were due to play 1874 Northwich, however, due to the bad weather that everyone has been affected by, the match was unfortunately postponed. We made sure to leave an opportunity open towards the end of the season, and the weather could not have been more contrasting. It was an absolutely glorious sunny day"

The fundraising event was organised by Alexandra Spearritt, sister of Purps Assistant Manager Tom Spearritt. Alex is the Clinical Lead Therapist for Major Trauma at Aintree Hospital in Liverpool, and she sent a message of thanks and appreciation to the club this week. 

Alex said "On behalf of all the staff on the major trauma ward at Aintree Hospital and the North West Air Ambulance Charity, I would like to say a massive thank you to Gary, the Club, the City of Liverpool team and all the supporters at COLFC. We had a brilliant day. The sun was shining and we received some really encouraging feedback and support from fans who generously donated. Paramedic Pup was also on hand to lead the teams out onto the pitch and to meet the fans all around the ground and our bucket collectors were able to chat with fans and tell them about the charity and how important it is to us all in the region".

"The North West Air Ambulance Charity takes advanced healthcare to scene; reaching, treating and transferring patients to definitive care as quickly as possible and working collaboratively with our partners to ensure they are transferred to the best treatment centre thus improving their chances of survival and reducing the risk of long term injury. The service operates 7 days a week, 365 days a year in daylight hours.  The vital service is funded solely by the generosity of the public through donations, fundraising activity, lottery membership and through our network of retail outlets. The charity need to raise in excess of £7 million per year to keep the service in the sky".

"So we want to say a massive 'Thank You' to City of Liverpool FC for all their help and support in the organisation of our fundraising event on Saturday. We were able to raise an amazing £228.34 for the North West Air Ambulance Charity! To Gary and the entire COLFC family….. we can’t thank you enough"! 

For more information about the North West Air Ambulance Charity Service, you can find them on Twitter @NWAirAmbulance or go to their website https://nwaa.net/
 

Last Friday evening, City of Liverpool were delighted to host a fundraising event on behalf of ‘COLFC Community’ in aid of their #FootballForEveryone scheme.

Purps Media Director Gary Johansen said: “COLFC Community do fantastic work with refugees, asylum seekers, the homeless and those who are unemployed.

"We have been in discussions with them for a while about sorting out this event, so it was brilliant to be able to facilitate this opportunity before the end of the season”.

COLFC Community is run by Sean Lindblad and his team of volunteers, and they offer free football for everyone of any age, ability and gender in a safe, inclusive and positive environment.

They also offer help and advice where required and do a great deal to encourage integration within the community.

Friday night's match against Burscough was attended by League Chairman Paul Lawler, so it was a great opportunity for him to learn more about the work that COLFC Community do.

Sean Lindblad said: “The fundraiser itself was fantastic and as soon as we got to the clubhouse we had already received 3 massive bags of kit from supporters and players alike.

"It was a great experience and really showed that City of Liverpool FC is indeed a community in itself, with lots of help and donations coming from all tiers of the club.

“In total, we managed to raise a brilliant amount of £248, as well as the countless bags of football gear including boots, equipment and clothes for use at our #FootballForEveryone sessions”.

Sean added, “It was also great to chat to the League Chairman Paul Lawler, who showed massive interest in what we do and the services we offer. It was fantastic to hear positive encouraging words from him regarding the work we do too.

"All in all, the fundraiser has helped us secure our future for a bit longer and therefore it will enable us to offer our services to more people who would like to play football or socialise, but who unfortunately do not have the funds or the equipment to do so.

"We'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone involved in this fundraising event, what a fantastic club we have!

“We did a programme article on the #FootballForEveryone scheme earlier in the season”, said Gary, and that really produced a lot of interest, but it's wonderful to see COLFC Community getting more recognition and evolving as part of the overall ethos of the club”.

One of the regular COLFC Community volunteers, coach Michael Meadows, who like Sean is a shareholder / member of City of Liverpool FC, also attended the event to promote the scheme.

Michael said: “The #FootballForEveryone scheme has gone from strength to strength over the last 12 months, and this is in part, due to the fantastic support shown to us by City of Liverpool FC.

"The support we received at the Burscough game was yet another example of the community spirit which runs throughout our club.

"All the kit donations will greatly assist us in ensuring all of our service users have access to the type of football gear that many of us might ordinarily take for granted”.

He added, “We’ve also got plans to upgrade our coaching resources for when our summer training programme and matches resume in May. The financial support received will aide us in purchasing vital coaching equipment to further ensure we’re able to provide fun, as well as engaging and, most importantly, free training sessions for our squad”.

For more information about the #FootballForEveryone scheme, see the COLFC Community page here on our website.

Thanks to all the players who have taken part in the fun competition. Below you will see the results of the game as it progresses.

Remember the 1st goal is to have all 3 of your players make the cut, then the winner(s) will be the players with the 3 lowest scoring golfers combined.

In effect you are trying to pick the golfers who finish 1st, 2nd & 3rd in The Open - if you can do that you will undoubtedly win the prize pot. 

Good luck everyone.