8-Year-Old embarks on 15-mile charity walk to support St Andrew’s Community Network

8-year-old Ted Reader will be taking on a 15 mile charity walk this May to raise money for St Andrew’s Community Network as part of the charity’s MAYke A Difference Month.

Ted raised £1,775 last year through a similar challenge for St Andrew’s Community Network, who run North Liverpool Foodbank and a network of community food pantries across the city, as well as providing free debt and welfare benefits advice to hundreds of people every year in their mission to set people free from poverty.

Now Ted – along with his dad, Simon – is hoping to do the same again, raising much-needed funds and foodbank donations along the way as part of the charity’s month-long fundraising campaign.

Starting at St Andrew’s Church in Clubmoor, the schoolboy will begin his six-hour lap of the city early morning on 25^th May.

He’ll walk along Queens Drive through Walton, in to Bootle, join Derby Road then all the way to the Pier Head, before setting off again along Wapping and Parliament Street and on to Park Road and Aigburth Road. At Sefton Park he will join back up with Queen’s Drive, before heading back to the church where his family, friends and the team from St Andrew’s Community Network will be waiting to meet him.

Ted is a huge supporter of the charity. When he’s not in school or playing football, he spends a lot of his time helping out at one of the Network’s foodbank centres in All Saints Church, Stoneycroft with his parents.

Ted Reader. Credit: St Andrew's Community Network — Ted Reader. Credit: St Andrew’s Community Network

He’s seen first-hand the impact the charity’s work has on the people they support, and wanted to do something extra to help them keep supporting some of the most disadvantaged people in Liverpool as in his words, “it is really sad that so many people have to come to foodbank because they can’t afford to go to the shops”.

Ted’s dad, Simon, is asking for people to support Ted on the day. He’s encouraging anyone to join them for part or all of the walk, and is asking local businesses and organisations along the route to publicise the event in the hopes of raising additional funds.

Ted’s dad, Simon, said:

“Ted is hoping as many people as possible will get behind him. Last year’s walk raised much more than we expected, but this year it’s as much about raising the awareness of the great work Foodbanks do as raising cash – although we will be collecting along the way – so Ted wants people to know there is help there for them. If as many individuals and businesses along the route as possible get behind it the better it is for everyone.”

For St Andrew’s Community Network, the support of Ted and everyone who donates or fundraises as part of the MAYke A Difference Month is vital, especially as the charity is experiencing significant levels of increased need in the face of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Charlotte, fundraising and communications officer at the Network, said:

“Ted’s incredible fundraising efforts have made such a big difference across our communities and helped us continue to support people in Liverpool and beyond. Our MAYke A Difference month is all about raising essential funds to help us continue our vital work as well as spread the word about the services we offer, and the support of Ted and everyone getting involved in the campaign is crucial. We are so grateful to Ted and his family for taking on this challenge again in aid of us.”

St Andrew’s Community Network support thousands of people across Liverpool every year as they word to build financial resilience, food security and sustainable communities throughout the city and beyond. You can support their work and find out more about #MAYkeADifference Month on their website.