Race organisers BTR Liverpool is launching an initiative, which will benefit five Merseyside charities over a 12-month period.

BTR Footsteps Fundraisers is a joint fundraising partnership, which will bring the charities together to benefit financially through BTR’s key race events over the next year.

BTR Liverpool is the leading independent organisation for organising and delivering race events in the Liverpool City Region.

The five BTR Footsteps Fundraisers official charities are:

• Radio City’s Cash For Kids
• Claire House Children’s Hospice
• Everton in the Community
• Jospice
• Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation

The first event in the BTR Footsteps Fundraisers campaign is the BTR Liverpool Santa Dash, which takes place on Sunday, 7 December. This is also the 10th anniversary of the UK’s biggest fun run.

Runners taking part in specific BTR events will be invited to support the partnership by making a donation or raising funds for the BTR Footsteps Fundraisers. At the end of the year, all monies raised will be split equally between the five charities to help them continue their vital work.

BTR Liverpool will actively support and promote the five charities throughout the year. The charities are invited to attend each race event to provide their unique and infectious encouragement for those running and raising funds.

Runners can support the BTR Footsteps Fundraisers through the following BTR events portfolio – Liverpool Santa Dash; Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon; Port Sunlight 10K/5K/1K; Mersey Tunnel 10K; Tour Of Merseyside; and Wirral Half Marathon 10K/5K.

BTR Race Director Alan Rothwell commented:

“BTR Footsteps Fundraisers is an exciting and important partnership. It is an initiative we have had in the planning for some time, and it will become another positive element we can develop within the running community.

“Many people choose fundraising as their motivation to participate in a running event. It could be their first ever fun run; a way to build up the miles to take on their next challenge; or even an endurance race to take them out of their comfort zone. But all runners who are fundraising have a common goal, and that’s to do themselves and their charities proud.

“There are so many worthwhile causes out there and people can find it difficult to choose just one charity to support. We feel that a partnership of five official charities will maximise people’s efforts and enable those much-needed funds to reach more people who need that extra support.”

Each charity has a specific focus and collectively they feel that being part of BTR Footsteps Fundraisers will strengthen their appeal within the running community.

Carole Clare, Charity Manager for Radio City’s Cash For Kids, said:

“This is an exciting partnership and Radio City’s Cash For Kids is looking forward to building a strong relationship with BTR Liverpool and our fellow charities over the next 12 months. The BTR Footsteps Fundraisers is a really positive step in how runners will support charities and we are thrilled to be involved.”

Mark Pearson, Event Fundraiser at Claire House Children’s Hospice, commented:

“It is great for Claire House Children’s Hospice to be involved with the BTR Footsteps Fundraisers. BTR organise the most iconic running events in the North West and people who run for Claire House are helping us to achieve our dream of being there for every family that needs us in our region.”

Denise Barrett-Baxendale, Deputy CEO Everton Football Club and CEO Everton in the Community commented:

“As a local charity firmly embedded within the Merseyside community, we are delighted to be announced as one of the Footsteps Fundraisers charities. The diverse range of the ground-breaking programmes we deliver benefit all members of our local community, from helping those living with dementia to managing the most successful disability sports programme in the world.”

Pat Murphy, Director of Fundraising at Jospice, commented:

“Launching the Footsteps initiative with the Liverpool Santa Dash is wonderful, it means our charities will be profiled on a much wider scale. Over half the funds we need to continue our work to care for local terminally ill people and their families is raised the generosity of Liverpool people’s donations and supporting our events.”

Jeni Nugent, Running Events Fundraiser for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation:

“Running is a fantastic way to promote healthy lungs. Lung cancer affects more people in the North West than anywhere else in the UK. We can’t wait to see the people of Merseyside pounding the pavements for the BTR Footsteps Fundraisers to help us raise awareness and fund our research to defeat the country’s deadliest cancer.”

BTR Footsteps Fundraisers sponsor forms are available from the BTR Liverpool office at 23 Hatton Garden, Liverpool city centre.

Alternatively, supporters can set up their own online fundraising page at Everyday Hero. There are a number of options available – one-off donation; start a fundraising page for an individual race starting with the BTR Liverpool Santa Dash; or to fundraise for the duration of the 12-month campaign. More details can be found at:

www.everydayhero.co.uk/event/supportbtrfootsteps

http://www.everydayhero.co.uk/event/BTRLiverpoolSantaDash2014

Full details can be found at www.BTRLiverpool.com