LFC’s charity contributed £23m social value to Liverpool City Region

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Liverpool FC’s commitment to supporting the local community has been independently valued at £23m during a 12-month period.

The Reds official charity, LFC Foundation, and its dedicated local community programme, Red Neighbours, has revealed the huge impact its work is having in local communities across the Liverpool City Region.

The Foundation has been working alongside research and technology company, Substance, to measure the impact of its work.

The report estimates that LFC Foundation has worked with over 50,000 people and contributed a value of £23.41m to the Liverpool City Region in a 12-month period, which equates to a social return on investment of over £15 for every £1 invested.

The charity also engaged with a high number of people with disabilities as well as participants from ethnically diverse backgrounds, more than is typical for the Liverpool City Region.

The work has been more important than ever during the past 18 months, with communities across the region experiencing unprecedented and difficult times as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Matt Parish, chief executive of LFC Foundation, said: “It was really important for us to understand the outcomes of our work and also have the opportunity to discover its monetary value to the Liverpool City Region.

“The key learnings from this report will enable us to continue our growth and develop new ways to engage with participants and partners to reach our goal of providing long-term change for communities by reducing the negative impacts they face with high levels of deprivation and ensure our work has a lasting impact and benefits future generations across our region and beyond.

“For us this report is just the beginning, and this work will be on-going to ensure that we continue to define, monitor, assess and report on our impact to help us in our ambition to be the leading Foundation in the sector.”

Alongside its key partners, LFC Foundation was able to re-assess its provision in light of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns to ensure it could continue to provide its delivery online for its participants and their families.

Other findings from the report included a 53% rise in the number of followers across the Foundation’s social media platforms which has enabled the charity to communicate and engage with more young people, families, partners and the wider football community.

LFC Foundation’s participants’ experiences were also captured by the report, which help to bring the numbers to life. Some of the feedback included participants’ feelings towards acceptance; “I felt safe, felt included and I was heard”, and “I was able to talk about stuff without being judged.”

Other participants’ feedback included praise for LFC Foundation coaches; “I genuinely can’t think of anything you can do to improve. You have a great coaching team.”