Last big push to save Zoe's Place
The deadline to reach the £6.4million target is tomorrow (Saturday)
There is just a day to raise the money needed to save Zoe's Place in Liverpool.
It was a month ago that trustees of the baby hospice announced that its service in Liverpool would close because of the time taken to secure planning permission for a new home, as well as rising costs associated with that move.
However, following meetings between the trustees and West Derby MP Ian Byrne, a huge fundraising campaign was launched to try and stop this closure from happening.
£6million has been raised - the target is £6.4million by tomorrow (9 November).
Reports suggest that Liverpool star, and West Derby-born, Trent Alexander-Arnold has made a sizeable donation - following on from the huge funding injection from Home Bargains.
People across the city and beyond have pitched in to help raise money too - including Axelegro, who put on ten fitness classes in Liverpool ONE last weekend and raised around £6,000.
Co-founder Danielle Flynn said:
"We were both devastated by the news (about Zoe's Place) and we knew that with our platform, we could raise some money together and we knew it was the right thing to do anything we could do to participate and play our part.
"It's so crazy that Zoe's Place isn't already funded and the amount of money they need - it's just so good to see everyone come together and doing what they can to find a new home for them and make sure nothing bad happens, which I'm sure it wont, because everyone has been so generous.
"The amount of stories we heard, people coming up to us and telling us their experiences with Zoe's Place, the amount of money people were putting in buckets and how emotional people were getting, it was just so rewarding to be able to host something like this that connected so many people together through a charity."
That followed 10-year-old Anthony Demellweek, who raised over £20,000 by completing 48 miles over 20 runs - which ended with pushing his sister Amelia, who has been supported by Zoe's Place, over the line.
West Derby MP Ian Byrne said:
"Its been so humbling and such a proud moment to see how the city has come together.
"It's been so lovely being down in parliament and actually having parliamentarians from across the country come up and commend Liverpool and its people for what they've did, so it's made me extremely proud.
"We're nearly there"
"We're really close now. Conversations are happening with the original board of trustees. We've got to set up the new organisation, we've got to make sure the staff feel secure moving forward, but the key thing was to raise the money - and we're nearly there.
"What a wonderful effort from the city, every single person whose been involved should be extremely proud of themselves.
"Its been one of the most rewarding periods of time as an MP I've experienced. To go from the depths of despair 30 days ago when we went into the original meeting when we were told by the trustees it was shut, and asking them to give us that opportunity to save Zoe's, and then going on a journey with so many people involved to get where we are today, has been absolutely magnificent.
"I'm absolutely sure we'll get to where we need to get and then the real hard work starts to actually get the new Zoe's Place built, up and running, and serving the families of this city and ensuring the staff have the best facilities in the world to work in and the city can then be so, so proud of what its achieved, because this has been built by Liverpool, for Liverpool."