How you can support the city through lockdown number two

Small businesses are starting to buckle under the burden of another lockdown, but if you want to help your favourite places – and people – in Liverpool there’s a lot you can do.

Here are 11 ways to support the city through lockdown number 2

Take it away

It was hard enough for restaurants and pubs struggling through the curfew, but while another closure might not be what they wanted, many are continuing to provide a service with food and drink for you to order and collect or takeaway.

So use it.

That way you can still enjoy your go-to tipple or favourite dish – maybe for a celebration at home – and help them keep their heads above water. It’s a win-win.

If you’re doubt about who’s offering what you can go on the venue’s website or give them a call, or look at our Delivery Directory with hundreds of places just waiting for your orders.

Check out the Guide Liverpool Directory here and email us directory@theguideliverpool.com to feature your business for free!

It’s in your gift

Still on bars and restaurants, you might not be able to get your feet under the table now, but you will be able to in the near future and by buying a gift voucher or booking an experience with them, you can support Liverpool’s fantastic businesses and look forward to a return visit when they re-open.

Lu Ban in Cains Brewery Village, The Art School and Gusto Italian in the Albert Dock are just some of the places for which you can buy gift cards or vouchers. More here.

But it’s not just restaurants and bars for which you can do this.

You can buy gift vouchers for theatres like The Royal Court, St Helens Theatre Royal, the Liverpool Philharmonic and, even, the Everyman Cinema and more.

You can use them to pay for future performances, or food and drink.

Save Pub Life

Protect your favourite pub from closure.

Neil Cooper, operations manager for Peaky Blinders Bar Group, says lots of bars and restaurants operate hand to mouth so cash flow is a big issue and, when places close, customers have to go away but rents and other payments stay.

“Save Pub Life can help bars to survive and re-open,” he says.

Save Pub Life was started by Budweiser, and there’s a list of pubs you can buy vouchers from – and you can also add the name of your favourite local. The scheme works by asking customers to buy vouchers from Save Pub Life, and Budweiser will double the amount, paying it to the bar or pub almost immediately. So, if a customer pays £20, Budweiser will pay the bar or pub £40.

The customer will be able to use the vouchers once the lockdown is over for their chosen drinks (or food).

More info here.

Shop local

SKAUS Allerton Road is open now serving fresh fruit, veg, craft beer and more

It’s easy to say – and easier to do.

You can really support your local community by helping the small businesses, the shops and their owners, who live in the area and serve those around them.

It might be your local greengrocer, corner shop, or butchers. Not only do you get great service and quality produce, you help them to feed their families while looking after yours.

AND

If you get good service or know a great shop!

Shout out about it

Again, it seems simple enough, but you can’t underestimate the value of a shout out on social media for a local business.

For a start it lets people who might not know about them hear about what they do or provide, and it’s a free advert for the shop or business at a time they need all the help they can get.

Pay a deposit into your local foodbank

So many people were struggling to survive in our communities before Covid and lockdown – and many more are fighting for survival since.

Foodbanks have been a lifeline for many families and, with many more mouths to feed, they need your help more than ever. You can provide support with either food they can hand out to those who need it, or financial help so they can buy the extra things they need.

Micah and The Big Help Project in Knowsley are just two foodbanks to which you can donate – but there are many more.

Lifting the LIDS

LIDS, Liverpool Independent Delivered Services, was launched by Liverpool Chef Dave Critchley from Luban restaurant in the Cains Brewery to bring together leading producers and fresh food suppliers so families could get a high-quality essentials delivery service during lockdown.

It means you help businesses, help yourself – and help others too.

You can even use LIDS to pay it forward, with a donation to help provide fruit and veg boxes or kids’ packed lunches to some of the most deprived areas of the city. And, just by buying from LIDS, shoppers support others in need because Dave donates a percentage of profits each month to Knowsley Kitchen which helps to give residents access to fresh and nutritious food.

Orders can be made via the website here – or by phone – 0330 107. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter too.

Help gyms and yoga studios stay fit

Gyms and yoga studios are among the many fitness companies which have had to close yet again but, in a bid to keep us, and their bank balances, fit and healthy, many are providing online services with monthly subscriptions.

So find out if your local centre or team is doing this and subscribe if they are.

You do everyone a favour – not least yourself!

Just the ticket.

If you’ve already booked and paid for a concert, hold onto your ticket.

It means you have something to look forward to in the future and, with many gigs not cancelled and just postponed, it will help performers and the places they perform in to come back stronger when restrictions are lifted and eased, and public performances are once again allowed.

It might even help to save jobs in those venues who put on the shows you can’t wait to enjoy again.

It’s a wrap

The Anfield Wrap is supporting local businesses and charities and asking fans from around the globe to buy Liverpool – but that doesn’t mean you can’t go onto their dedicated page to find out who needs your support too.

It could be buying a few beers from a Liverpool brewery, says host John Gibbons, buying gifts from an online store, or making a donation to a charity or a foodbank in the Liverpool City Region.

“It might be that people want a bit of Liverpool in their home, they may have moved away and miss it – whatever they want, or however they want to help, we can facilitate it,” he adds.

The Anfield Wrap has a page on its website with a list of charities and foodbanks fans can help with donations, as well as the names of businesses they can buy from and support, from food and drink companies, and gift companies, to artists and clothes shops.

And the list won’t be exhaustive, with new additions every time someone approaches them for help: “And that can be anyone and everyone who has an online shop and can deliver inside, and outside, Liverpool.”

More info here.

Charity begins…with you

With sponsored events and other fundraisers shut down, the charity sector is among the hardest hit.

Look to see what your favourite charity may be doing online to get your support or donations, or perhaps you could get creative yourself and launch your own virtual fundraiser.

Locally Alder Hey Children’s Charity, Claire House and Maggie’s Merseyside are among those who need your support and you can find out how to offer it on their websites.