Nine-year-old Taylor Swift fan raises over £2,500 for Zoe’s Place by making friendship bracelets

A nine-year-old Taylor Swift fan from Aintree has raised more than £2,500 in two weeks for the Zoe’s Place appeal by making friendship bracelets.

Lauren Williams and her daughter Lily watched a video of comedian Adam Rowe talking about the baby hospice’s struggle to stay open.

Schoolgirl Lily decided she’d help by using leftover beads from seeing her idol on this summer’s Eras Tour to make bracelets.

Now, after setting herself a £250 Just Giving target, Lily has managed to raise over 10 times that amount and she’s not stopping yet!

With a growing list of orders, Lily and her mum are devoting all their spare time to it, crafting before and after school and at weekends.

Lauren says:

“It started out as a small-scale thing that Lily wanted to do because we’d watched the Adam Rowe video and Lily was asking what Zoe’s Place was and why it was closing. 

“It was hard to know what to say – how do you explain that somewhere that does such amazing work for Liverpool and beyond is closing for a reason she wouldn’t really understand?

“She asked if there was something we could do to help so we discussed a few ideas. Lily’s a massive Taylor Swift fan, she made lots of friendship bracelets to take to the concert with her in the summer and then we went to Stanley Park the day after to exchange bracelets with the fans there.

“That was the idea Lily landed on, to start making bracelets, and she set herself a £250 target which I thought we should be able to raise because friends and family would get involved.

“She posted a video on my Instagram on October 9, started the fundraising page and here we are at £2,630! The community has really got behind her, her school Aintree Davenhill Primary has too, and all her friends have been great. Everyone’s just been so generous, it’s been really heartwarming.”

In fact, Lily has such a long ongoing order list, they’ve set up a mini production line at home.

“We’ve got it off to a fine art now,” laughs Lauren. “I’m on knots and admin and Lily does all the beautiful bracelet making.

“People are ordering through the Just Giving website, we’ve had lots of cash donations as well and we’ve had some orders where people have wanted a particular theme like rainbow colours or Everton or Liverpool.

“The manageress of the local pub, The Valentine in Aintree village, has put a load behind the bar and has been taking cash donations and we’ve got a stall on Sunday selling them at a friend’s fundraising event in Orrell Park Bar on Moss Lane.”

Mum and daughter have been driving around dropping off orders every day, posting out to further afield, and Lauren says it’s not just donations of money which have been coming in. 

“We’ve had lots of donations of beads, Hobbycraft in Aintree got in touch and donated some, and we’ve been gifted more by family friends and the local community who’ve been knocking on our door to give Lily extra.

“It’s been a really nice experience for Lily, everyone’s been lovely so it’s something I’m sure will stick with her for a very long time. We’re just trying to play our part in hopefully saving Zoe’s Place because that’s the outcome we all want.”

Support Lily’s Just Giving bracelet making here.

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