Yahoo News Taylor Swift's generosity will help 'thousands of people' in the city
The generosity of Taylor Swift will help "thousands of people" in the battle against poverty in the city a charity has said.
Taylor Swift, on the back of her three night sold-out residency at Anfield, made a generous donation to St Andrew's Community Network's in Clubmoor.
The charity has helped those in poverty across North Liverpool for 21 years and "supports around 36,000 people a year" in their mission to "set people free from poverty". The community network provides financial guidance as well as 11 foodbanks and eight food pantries across the city.
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Charlotte, who is a fundraiser for the network, said the impact the donation has already made has "been huge". She said: "We only found out yesterday ourselves and the amount of awareness it's already brought has been incredible."
Beyond the money that Taylor has donated, the publicity that the singer has created for St Andrew's is "so important". Charlotte explains that it is crucial "not even for people who could potentially donate to us themselves but to people who might need our help who don't know we're there."
"For someone like Taylor to see the value of the work that goes on in the community is incredible"
Charlotte describes the charity's three initiatives as "to build financial resilience, build food security and build sustainable communities". The rise in use of foodbanks has only increased the charity's importance in the city. Charlotte said: "Last year we saw around 14,000 people in our foodbanks and our pantries had over 22,000 visits. What we really want to do is build wrap-around care for people so to save people holistically."
Not only does the charity provide "emergency food support" with it's foodbanks and "long-term food support" with it's food pantries; but they aim to provide essential financial guidance to those who are struggling financially. The trained volunteers who provide this guidance are what the charity call "money angels".
Charlotte added: "Money can be really difficult to talk about for people, especially if it's an issue. They [the 'money angels'] are there every single week, they get to know people, they become real friends with them .... encourage people to open up and get the support they need."
The charity's original intention was to provide local financial advice but it became clear how 'food' was an issue that needed to be addressed. The charity started their first foodbank over 12 years ago and they now have 11 different centres and "thousands of people" needing support.
It is widely reported that larger amounts of people are now turning towards foodbanks. Charlotte said: "I think since the cost-of-living [crisis] the use of foodbanks has accelerated quite a lot". This means that St Andrew's resources are needed more than ever.
Charlotte said: "We are definitely seeing significantly increased needs across the board, which is not a position we want to be in obviously, but we want to be able to help every single person we come into contact with.
"So if people do want to help, the best they can do that is they can give time, they can volunteer and help us out."
The charity would also be appreciative if people followed in Taylor's footsteps and were able to donate. Charlotte added: "People can give as much or as little as they are able to. Every single penny makes a massive difference."
Charlotte admits she is still shocked by Taylor's donation and added: "It was quite a shock. It's obviously major news and quite exciting as a personal fan."
The donation by Taylor ensures that her impact on the city of Liverpool will last long after her performances at Anfield.
