Today (Wednesday, March 8) is International Women's Day, an annual event which celebrates the achievements of women.
One inspirational Liverpool woman has gone above and beyond to support local families during the cost of living crisis. Mother-of-four Kate Stewart has helped over 2,000 families across the city, by offering free meals, heat, entertainment, Christmas presents and free school uniforms.
Kate Stewart owns The Sandon Complex in Anfield and opened up the venue's hospitality suites to help those in need. Families travelled from across the city to take advantage of the hot meals, heat and entertainment, with people turning out in their hundreds each week.
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Kate's generosity has seen her support her local community for many years, having sponsored five local grassroots football teams, hosted monthly pensioner days and hired local people. Most recently, Kate personally purchased 250 school uniforms for local children, working with the local council in Anfield to identify the children who needed it most to ensure they were given the correct uniform.
Over the festive period, Kate facilitated a Christmas market-themed shopping day at The Sandon. The event meant that families could shop for free, enabling people to pick up Christmas presents and essential items. Kate bought 300 pairs of pyjamas for Christmas Eve, with a host of local businesses also lending their support.
Kate said: "When times are hard, I can’t just continue with my life knowing that people are going without or worrying about how they’re going to feed their families. I’m in a very privileged position and have the space to welcome 200 people per night for hot free meals, heating and entertainment.
"For me, it’s a no brainer and whilst there are many other people doing fantastic things for the less fortunate in the city, I’d love to see so many more supporting where they can.
"Over the winter period, it was overwhelming to see so many people coming to The Sandon week in, week out, and as Christmas approached I knew I had to go a step further. I have four children of my own and the festive period is an expensive time so my goal was to take the pressure off and give families in need a place to shop for free so that their children had presents to wake up to.
"International Women’s Day is about shining a light on people who are strong, fierce, independent women and everything that they’re doing and I just hope that our initiatives at The Sandon inspire others to look at the ways in which they can give a helping hand. It’s most important for me to look after the people on my doorstep and I’ll be continuing with that same mentality throughout 2023.”
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