The team behind Harrison’s Bar & Kitchen have already gained a first-rate reputation for giving back to local communities.

After initially sponsoring nearby youth sports and leisure teams including award-winning grassroots football, boxing clubs as well as dance troupes, the venue has also become a one-stop shop over the last several months for drives to help local community projects with festive and Easter egg appeals. As time moves on, the management at this hugely popular city centre venue wish to formalise their charitable endeavours by forming a CIC, named Harrison’s Foundation.

Harrison’s Bar & Kitchen is currently preparing to launch this worthwhile project after a busy early trading period. Based in the city’s bustling North John Street area, it’s warm and friendly atmosphere is a part of its charm, and Harrison’s dedication to live sport, including screening popular football matches, along with boxing, golf, rugby and horse-racing, make it the ideal place to enjoy hearty food, refreshing drinks and have a relaxing afternoon or evening out.

The venue is also popular for live music events. The team are currently gearing up for a busy season ahead, starting with upcoming Bank Holidays, the hugely anticipated fortnight of Eurovision events, and a summer of events attracting visitors from the city region, the rest of the UK and all over the globe.

Nicola Halton Business Development Manager of Harrison’s Bar Group explains:

‘We have really wanted to formalise the contribution we enjoy making to the local community, with the help of such generous donations, so that we can consolidate our experiences so far and extend our charitable reach in the future via the creation of our Harrison’s Foundation.

We have particularly enjoyed the way we have been able to support youngsters from across the city region. Our 2022 Christmas appeal, and 2023 Easter egg drive, have been simple and effective ways of delivering much-appreciated treats to community centres in the L6 and L30 areas, and other key hubs.

We wish to continue to raise funds to further support sports which really boost the health and wellbeing of the young population in the area via grassroots football, boxing and dance. Having already had some really valuable experiences in these areas, we hope expanded support from us will encourage more youngsters to engage in activities which contribute positively to them, their families and communities. 

As a centrally-placed, busy location in the city centre of Liverpool on the corner of North John Street and Victoria Street, we welcome a wide demographic of guests at Harrison’s, and we also have a lot of passing footfall, with people en route to events, shopping districts and both day and night time celebrations.

We are hoping to get involved in training our staff and then providing defibrillator support within our venue, which would be easily accessible to anyone who may then require assistance. As some of our personnel have worked in other leisure and tourism backgrounds which require this level of training and defibrillator provision, we would really like for Harrison’s to have this in our sights.

I have been kindly nominated to lead an upcoming abseiling Harrison’s team at Liverpool Football Club’s Anfield Stadium, in conjunction with some of our key supporters, too. This is to kick-start our next major fundraising drive. Every single person involved with Harrison’s Foundation will be donating their time and efforts on an entirely voluntary basis. We are also lucky that other venues within our group, including the Abbey Road Bar, Scruffy Murphy’s and Dwntwn have provided us with both practical and moral support.

As a team, we would like to thank everyone around the city, and also any visiting guests from outside of the region, who have already donated to our appeals. Now with our new formal CIC, we will be able to further organise future incoming donations and resources, and expand our vision to help as many people as we can.

We are hugely proud of our city, our fantastic guests, and the friendliness, warmth and generosity of the people of Liverpool. In the next few weeks as everything that makes the region great will be under the international spotlight, we can’t think of a better time to get started on the next part of our fundraising journey.’

Harrison’s Bar & Kitchen is based at 23 North John Street, Liverpool L2 5QU.

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