03.05.12 - THE GRAND NATIONAL

Alder Hey IMAGINE Appeal the real winner at Grand National

Alder Hey IMAGINE Appeal, the official charity of the 2012 John Smith’s Grand National meeting, raised over £50,000 throughout the racing festival period – the highest amount raised within the seven-year partnership.

The Alder Hey IMAGINE Appeal team worked hard to raise  £10,000 on the festival’s Liverpool Day (Thursday 12th April) in an attempt to break the world record for the biggest pub quiz.  Despite the team narrowly missed the world record, the team raised a record fundraising amount since the partnership with Aintree Racecourse started in 2006 with celebrity and race-goer support in abundance.

Off the course, the team raised £14,000 in its ‘Under Starters Orders’ event, which saw comedian Stan Boardman with actresses Alex Fletcher and Suzanne Collins compete against Desperate Scousewives Amanda Harrington, and sisters Gill and Debbie O’Toole in a  cooking challenge, whilst model Chanel 4 Racing’s Emma Spencer and Ap McCoy’s wife Chanelle battled it out to be named the queen of cocktails.  Further funds were raised on the night with an auction, including the top item of a singed photo of last year’s Grand National winner AP McCoy, which went for £2,200.

A further 26,000 was made in donations from Tangle Teezer and the racing fraternity.
All of the funds raised will be donated to Alder Hey, Europe’s busiest children’s hospital, helping towards research, purchasing vital equipment and building a better environment to support families.

Emma Owen, Marketing and PR Manager, said: “Liverpool Day is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate everything that is great about this city, and the incredible amount raised this year shows how charitable the people in Liverpool are. This great support means that Alder Hey hospital can continue its pioneering work to make a difference to lives of children in hospital, and also develop other areas including research which can be crucial to some conditions.”

Alex Rose, Director of Charities at Alder Hey Imagine Appeal said: “We were delighted to be the official chosen charity of the John Smith’s Grand National for the seventh consecutive year and this year’s partnership has been our most successful to date with the Alder Hey IMAGINE Appeal raising over £50,000! All monies raised are vitally needed to support our hospital and we are extremely grateful to Aintree Racecourse and John Smith’s for their continued support and generosity.
 
“The warm reception we received from the race goers on Thursday was fantastic, proving once again that the famed generosity and charitable spirit was in evidence again on Liverpool Day.”