Charities across Merseyside urged to bid for a £25,000 prize pot offered by insurance specialist

CHARITIES in Merseyside have a chance to win a share of a £25,000 prize pot offered by expert charity insurer Ansvar, as part of its Community Campaign.

Many good causes in the Region have been struggling to raise funds during the current cost of living crisis and Ansvar, which has insured charities, Churches and voluntary groups for more than 60 years, is offering help.

The money will be split 3 ways: £15,000 for the overall winner with £5,000 each going to 2 additional charities.

Applications for funding can be submitted upto:- Monday, 17 April 2023, with winners announced by Wednesday, 31 May 2023. Charities simply need to complete a short online form and explain in 500 words or less why their project deserves the prize.

Judges will be looking for projects that are about to start, or already running, which positively impact the local community.

Sarah Cox, Managing Director at Ansvar, said:- "These are tough times for many charities, so we're delighted to announce our search for 3 registered charities to benefit from a £25,000 prize pot. We know how much that money will mean to projects being run across the country and the judges are particularly keen to receive entries that provide a detailed outline of how the money would be spent."

A judging panel will meet to decide the winner; and entries need to be made online via the Ansvar website. Entrants must be a registered charity and their charity number will be needed to apply.

Sarah Cox added:- "We've been insuring charitable organisations at the heart of the community for a long time and giving back to the community is an important part of what we do. So, we're really looking forward to hearing from a wide breadth of charities and learning how they could benefit from this funding boost. We strongly urge any eligible charities in need of funding to submit an application."

For more information, please visit:- Ansvar.Co.UK.

PayPoint announces new contract with United Utilities reaching 3 million customers in North West

PAYPOINT announced a new contract with United Utilities, the company responsible for water and wastewater services in the North West of England. The deal will allow its customers to pay their water bills at any PayPoint retailer partner in the Region from:- 15 March 2023.

This will apply to all customers who pay their water bills via United Utilities' Water Card or Pay by cash options. A Water Card enables customers to make budget payments towards their bills, while Pay by cash is full bill payment by customers taking their bills, which host a unique barcode, into a store to be scanned and paid for over the counter.

United Utilities delivers 1.8 billion litres of water a day to more than 3 million homes and businesses in the North West, including Liverpool and Manchester. PayPoint currently has more than 3,350 retailer partners in the North West (of 28,000 nationally) which guarantees easy, local access no matter where United Utilities customers are based in the Region.

Danny Vant, Director of Client Services at PayPoint, said:- "This contract has been won thanks to the reliability, scale and local presence of PayPoint's network across the North West. Our retailers already provide a range of essential day-to-day services to communities across the Region and this addition further strengthens their role as a one-stop destination for local communities. We will always work hard to ensure that we're adding value for our retailers across the UK. In the North West, United Utilities' customers will not only generate commission for retailers via these water payments. They will also drive heightened footfall and opportunities for broader sales in our retailer partners' stores."

Penelope Walton, Head of Sales and Billing Integrity at United Utilities, said:- "There are already a huge range of options for our customers to pay their bills, and this is part of our ongoing commitment to make things as easy and convenient as we can."