Everton FC announce campaign to raise over £100,000 for Liverpool Unites

Oct 14 2009 By LDP Business Club

Everton Football Club and its retail partner Kitbag Ltd have announced a campaign to help raise over £100,000 for the charity Liverpool Unites

At the heart of the campaign will be launch of a special, Limited Edition Everton shirt designed to promote the charity and its objectives.

The Liverpool Unites campaign was set up by the Liverpool Echo in August 2007 in response to the tragic murder of school boy Rhys Jones, who was shot in Croxteth Park while on his way home from football training.

After initially reaching its goal of raising £100,000 for the Rhys Jones Memorial Fund, Liverpool Unites continues to raise money for not only this cause, but also for other local charities and community groups across Merseyside that aim to positively engage children and young people, helping them to break the cycle of crime and poverty and giving them hope and ambition to create a brighter future for themselves.  As importantly, the charity also aims to convey to the outside world that Liverpool is a City that cares, and that its local population will not tolerate gun and knife crime.

The Limited Edition shirt will be launched at a special, black tie dinner to be held in Club Everton at Goodison Park on Thursday 29 October 2009.  Each shirt will be presented in a specially designed presentation box and will be individually numbered.  David Moyes and the current Everton squad will join with former players and over 230 guests to celebrate the reveal and launch of the new shirt, until then it’s all under wraps.  Kitbag will provide ‘money can't buy’ prizes for the evening from some of their portfolio of football partners such as Champions League winners Barcelona and Real Madrid.  The shirt will then go on sale at Everton One and Two and on-line at EvertonDirect.com.  The shirts, individually boxed and presented with a certificate of authenticity will be priced at £49.95 each.

Tickets for the event will go on sale from 28 September and will be priced at £950 for a table of ten guests complete with dinner and complimentary wine.  Individual tickets can also be purchased at £100 each but will be of limited supply. Either a member of the current squad or an Everton Legend will join each table on the evening.

Everton intend to play in the special, limited edition kit for one game only after the shirt has been revealed at the dinner on 29 October.

Commenting on the announcement to support Liverpool Unites, Robert Elstone, Everton CEO said, "The Liverpool Unites charity has done a fantastic job during the past two years and it is so important to the City and the people of Liverpool that we are delighted to show our support in this way"

Ray Evans, MD of Kitbag Ltd added, "We are going to bring all our expertise and contacts to support this worthy initiative and raise much needed funds to assist the charity to achieve its goals.  The dinner will be a fantastic occasion and will be as unique as the shirt itself"

Tom Woolley from Liverpool Unites said “Our ethos is that if people in our community can work together, we can help vulnerable children escape a future threatened with gun and knife crime. This is a fantastic contribution from Everton and Kitbag Ltd, and we are proud to have this historic shirt associated with our charity and hope that its launch will both re-enforce our message to young people and raise the funds needed to help kids in our city”

Anyone wishing to purchase tickets for the dinner and launch of the new limited edition shirt should telephone Tom Woolley at Liverpool Unites on 0151 285 8400.

For further information please contact Tony Tighe at Mere PR
Tel 0161 929 8700
Email tony@mere.co.uk