Club Liverpool is a network of ambassadors who are leaders in their fields and work to bring conferences and events to Liverpool and they have helped secure 34 events up to 2022. Tony McDonough reports

A network of ‘ambassadors’ working to bring conferences and events to Liverpool have boosted the city region economy by more than £60m since 2015.

Club Liverpool is a network of ambassadors who are leaders in their fields and work to bring world-class conferences and events to Liverpool and they have helped secure 34 events up to 2022.

The idea for the ambassadors came about following the launch of a partnership between Liverpool Convention Bureau and ACC Liverpool. In 2018 alone they helped bring in events worth £10.8m to the city.

The week the ambassadors attended an event at Liverpool Town Hall were they were honoured for their contribution. The Lord Mayor presented them with 10 certificates presented for seven different events.

Major conferences held in 2018 included The Global Symposium on Health Systems Research and The European Week of Astronomy and Space Science, which both took place at ACC Liverpool and were both brought  by Club Liverpool ambassadors.

Professor Louise Kenny, Executive Pro Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at the University of Liverpool, delivered the keynote speech.

She announced that the Club Liverpool Board will expand to include members from universities and NHS Trusts.  There will also be greater collaboration between Club Liverpool, the combined authority and the LEP to implement the organisation’s international strategy.

Hosted by Colin Sinclair, chair of the Club Liverpool board, the event also looked forward to the year ahead and some of the landmark conferences that are coming up.

These include the 42nd European Cystic Fibrosis Conference and the European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health, which alone will bring more than 3500 delegates to Liverpool from across the world.

Mr Sinclair said: “The Club Liverpool ambassadors have put in an incredible amount of work to bring events to the city, which have had an economic impact of £10.8 million in 2018 alone.

“However this work is often quiet and goes under the radar, so it’s really important that we’re able to honour and thank the ambassadors formally at tonight’s event.”