A new report shows Liverpool FC’s official charity, The LFC Foundation, helped more than 50,000 people during the pandemic, providing £23m in social value. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool FC’s official charity suppose more than 50,000 people during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing an estimated social value of £23.21m.
The LFC Foundation, and its dedicated local community programme Red Neighbours, is shown to have had a huge impact on peoples’ lives across the Liverpool city region over a 12-month period.
It has been working alongside research and technology company, Substance, to measure the impact of its work. The report estimates the social return on its work equated to £15 for every £1 invested.
The charity also engaged with a high number of people with disabilities as well as participants from ethnically diverse backgrounds, more than is typical for the Liverpool city region.
Its work has been more important than ever during the past 18 months, with communities across the region experiencing unprecedented and difficult times as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matt Parish, chief executive of LFC Foundation, said: “It was really important for us to understand the outcomes of our work and also have the opportunity to discover its monetary value to the Liverpool city region.
“The key learnings from this report will enable us to continue our growth and develop new ways to engage with participants and partners to reach our goal of providing long-term change for communities by reducing the negative impacts they face with high levels of deprivation and ensure our work has a lasting impact.
“For us this report is just the beginning, and this work will be on-going to ensure that we continue to define, monitor, assess and report on our impact to help us in our ambition to be the leading Foundation in the sector.”
Alongside its key partners, LFC Foundation was able to re-assess its provision in light of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns to ensure it could continue to provide its delivery online for its participants and their families.
Other findings from the report included a 53% rise in the number of followers across the Foundation’s social media platforms which has enabled the charity to communicate and engage with more young people, families, partners and the wider football community.