Francesca D'Arcy

17 year old Francesca D'Arcy is an inspiring role model for young people and volunteers of all ages. In the 'Year of the Volunteer', she is recognised as the Most Generous Young Person for having volunteered continuously since the age of 10 to raise money for charities in Liverpool. She has spearheaded several original fundraising initiatives, bringing on board the local community, businesses, churches and the media. Through her efforts she has raised over £50,000 for charities.

Inspired by Roy Castle's wife to fundraise at the age of 10, Francesca began by collecting loose change found on the ground, encouraging others to do the same. In her first year she raised £5,000 for Claire House Children's Hospice, involving both her local church and the Lord Mayor of Liverpool. Since then, she has continually had innovative ideas for fundraising and consistently surpasses her targets.

As Chair of MCCC's Young People's Fundraising Support Group, Francesca has organised Christmas and Easter fairs, Country and Western evenings, sales of donated items and a collection of foreign coins. Over 300,000 used stamps have been collected, with £50 per kilo of stamps going to Diabetes UK.

Francesca also came up with the idea of contacting over 100 companies to sponsor the production of 1,000 "love me" teddy bears she'd designed for MCCC. The bears raised £10,000 over 12 months and all this during Francesca's GSCE year. This idea was also utilised for the Lord Mayor's Charity Appeal, successfully raising a further £10,000. Another initiative was her '5p Appeal' in 2001, encouraging people to donate loose change. This appeal has collected over £4,000 to date for the Woodlands Hospice.

A key to Francesca's fundraising has been the friendship she has built up with all her donors, and she is well-known for being courteous and for always saying 'thank you' for the support she receives. She has also established an excellent relationship with the local media and regularly appears in the Liverpool Echo, Merseymart, Catholic Pictorial and on the local radio. She has been presented with several awards from her school and charities, and in 2002 was asked to start the prestigious Clipper Race on Liverpool's waterfront.

"Francesca has helped so many charities in such a phenomenal way for one so young. She is an inspiration not just to other young people but to everyone who comes into contact with her and an ideal role model for a new generation of givers and carers."

Lord Mayor of Liverpool

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