Meet the charities and fundraising heroes in the final of The Guide Liverpool Heroes 2025

We can’t wait to celebrate the city heroes who make us proud in the first ever Guide Liverpool Heroes 2025 awards.

For the last 10 years we’ve been sharing so many amazing stories of the individuals, fundraisers, charities and businesses who make our city region so great.

And, to mark our landmark birthday this year, it’s time to honour them.

The Guide Liverpool HEROES 2025 awards, brought to you by Liverpool Cruise Port and in Partnership with San Carlo Restaurants, will be held at the Titanic Hotel on Friday, November 21.

The awards will focus on everything from community projects, charities and emergency services to sports heroes and influencers, with four special awards – one to be revealed only on the night.

It’s going to be an amazing evening and, until then, let us introduce you to the charities of the year and the fundraising warriors who have made it to the final…

Charity of the Year finalists

Claire House Children’s Hospice

There when they’re needed most, Claire House Children’s Hospice helps seriously and terminally ill children live life to the full by creating wonderful experiences, while bringing back a sense of normality to family life. By providing specialist nursing and end of life care, as well as emotional support, Claire House helps families through some of the toughest times of their lives.

Clatterbridge Cancer Charity

Clatterbridge Cancer Charity is dedicated to supporting cancer patients and their families, funding life-saving research, treatment and care across Merseyside and Cheshire. Through donations, it ensures Clatterbridge Cancer Centre stays at the forefront of care, with new ways to treat the disease, bringing cancer care closer to patients’ homes and being the first in the UK to offer certain clinical trials.

New Beginnings – Improving Lives 

Founded in 2019 by Michelle Roach, a former NHS worker with lived in experience of mental health and cancer, New Beginnings – Improving Lives was established to support and signpost people who were unable to access services. Since then, the grassroots charity has grown and is transforming communities, offering everything from free boxing and food support to vital wellbeing and family services.

North West Cancer Research

North West Cancer Research funds pioneering local research, education and community projects – tackling cancer rates in our region and improving lives for generations to come. Since 2000, North West Cancer Research has funded more than £55 million of world-class research and although it focuses on cancers most likely to affect people here, it shares its findings and works with the world.

Sahir House

Sahir House is Liverpool’s oldest LGBTQ+ and HIV charity, providing vital support, advocacy and community for people across the city region. In this, its 40^th anniversary year, it also stepped in to ensure that ‘Liverpool’s Pride’ would go ahead with a new name and new hope.

Tom Harrison House

Tom Harrison House is the UK’s only veteran-specific addiction recovery centre, saving lives and supporting ex-service personnel and their families. As well as drop-in breakfast sessions, a wellbeing activities programme and accommodation and move-on support, it offers a 12-week residential programme. 

Fundraising Hero Finalists

Jack Dowling

Blues performance coach Jack Dowling set himself the tough challenge to undertake 26 marathons in 26 weeks in honour of his late brother Tom who died from bowel cancer. Jack completed the marathons and smashed his original fundraising target of £32,500 – the cost of one Macmillan Cancer Support nurse for 26 weeks – to collect more than £72,000. On October 1 last year– Tom’s birthday – he decided to run 26 minutes every hour for 26 hours taking his total to more than £100,000.

Olly Harrison

Farmer Olly has raised hundreds of thousands with his epic tractor convoys and charity campaigns, rallying and cheering communities to support North West Air Ambulance. This year too Olly, who has a farm in Tarbock, revealed he has now raised £100,000 by doing birthday shout-outs on the bumper of his tractor.

Alex Rigby

Alex became the first person to run to all 69 Merseyrail stations in just over 24 hours, covering a staggering 109 miles – the equivalent of four marathons! He raised £56,000 for Kirkdale-based Centre 56 which offers free specialist nursery care and support for children and their families who’ve suffered domestic abuse, trauma or crisis … and sparked a city-wide movement of kindness.

Nicola Carragher

Mum of two Nicola is passionate about children’s health and their futures, and her support of Alder Hey goes back over decades. To raise vital funds for the city’s much-loved children’s hospital of which she is a patron, Nicola – wife of former LFC defender and pundit Jamie – set herself an ambitious challenge to run all seven world major marathons consecutively within 12 months. And she did it!

Ged Finnegan

Ged did his first 26-mile Kate’s Coastal Walk in 2018, marking the 20^th anniversary of his daughter’s death at the age of just 13. Since then the retired teacher from Woolton has raised more than £100,000 for Zoe’s Place – now Little Lights Liverpool Baby Hospice – showing incredible dedication to supporting babies and families in need and vowing to carry on ‘to my dying day’.

Phill Hayward

The Wirral PE teacher ran a charity 10K every day for a year – and to make it more interesting, he undertook the epic challenge in bare feet! Phill raised thousands for the Alzheimer’s Society, running in rain, shine, snow, ice, and storms to complete the equivalent distance of Liverpool to Cairo.

Neil Atherton

The Arriva instructor from Widnes has walked countless bus routes over the last five years to raise vital funds and collect donations for local food banks. So far Neil has raised a total of £29,000 and notched up a distance of around 510 miles with more challenges to go at the end of the year.

Find out more about The Guide Liverpool Heroes here.

Find out what’s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide. 

From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North – visit thenorthernguide.com and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram HERE.