A Northwich Flood Relief Fund has been set up by a group of friends from the town with the aim to raise £20,000 for independent businesses that have been affected by the recent flooding.
As well as direct donations, a walk, ride and run initiative has also been set up on Strava as another method of raising funds for the cause.
The team are calling on the people of Northwich to cover as many miles as possible between now and the end of February, with the aim to raise money for the relief fund. Whether it’s a 5k run, walking the dog or simply 10 minutes out and about each day with the kids, “February for the Floods” aims to get the Northwich community together to raise awareness while being healthy during lockdown in February to support local businesses.
It’s free and easy to get involved, simply record your activity through the group’s Strava group.
The Just Giving Page, which was launched a couple of days after the floods hit, was created in response to the friendship group seeing the devastating scenes in their hometown and wanting to do something to support those impacted. The current target has been set at £20,000 due to the huge amount of repair work that independent businesses will now have to undertake to get back up and running, and incredibly over £2,000 had already been pledged by lunchtime on Monday 25th January.
To help spread messages about the initiative, they have teamed up with Northwich Life, the Northwich Business Improvement District, the Northwich Independent Retailers Association and Made in Northwich who have begun sharing messages on their profiles and encouraging people to get involved.
Many shops and premises were unfortunately severely damaged by flood waters on Thursday 21st January and it is hoped that this fundraising scheme will provide a lifeline to businesses who need urgent support to help them recover.
As well as running, cycling and walking people are encouraged to use their creativity too, with one fundraiser deciding to use her rowing machine to complete the combined distance of the River Weaver and River Dane; a lengthy 191km.
One of the group members behind the Just Giving page is Chris Todd who has spoken about the creation of the Northwich Flood Relief Fund.
“We are a group of friends who personally know a number of the businesses that have been affected and felt helpless seeing the impact that the floods would have on their livelihoods,” said Chris. “We decided to set up a funding page to try and raise some much-needed support using a theme that everyone could get involved with and also help to keep active in these challenging times.
“This has now gained momentum and we are looking to push this into ‘February for the Floods’ and try to get the local community to complete personal challenges and raise money to support local. We just want to try and get everyone working together to ensure we have a great town to get back to when we can.”
