First package of measures unveiled to help Liverpool City Region deal with Coronavirus

An initial package of measures from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority aimed at easing the Coronavirus burden on local people has been unveiled.

Chairing the first meeting of the Liverpool City Region Coronavirus Action Group, the Mayor announced a number of new initiatives:

•The ‘LCR Cares’ COVID 19 Community Support Fund – a new crowdfunding campaign to support community and voluntary organisations on the frontline of helping our communities cope with the spread of Coronavirus.

•Free bus travel to and from school for the children of key workers using existing Merseytravel funded supported bus services.

•Lifting the 9.30am restriction on concessionary travel for essential journeys, such as accessing designated shopping hours reserved for the elderly.

•A fund of £65,000 of business support for community and social businesses to help them cope with the impact of COVID-19.

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said: “Tackling a challenge of this scale requires everybody to come together and do all that we can to stop the spread of the Coronavirus, and mitigate the economic, social and health impacts it will have.

“This obviously requires support from government – and we’ve seen the start of that this week, though we await further announcements – but there are things we can do locally as well. I want to do all that I can to help support local people, businesses and community organisations through this uncertainty.”

The LCR Cares COVID 19 Community Support Fund website page is now open for donations from the public. Just go to https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/giving/ and search for LCRCares or www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/lcrcares

Early next week, a simple and speedy processes for organisations to access those funds will be in place.