A vibrant hub of charity activity, Liverpool is home to over 3,000 registered charities, organisations, services, voluntary groups, and social enterprises. North of 24,000 people are considered full time employees in the third sector of the Liverpool City Region, approximately 1.6% of the area’s population. Major charity events in the city include the Rock ‘n’ Roll Liverpool Marathon, the Cancer Research UK Liverpool Shine Night Walk and the Port of Liverpool RNLI Duck Race.

Charities in Liverpool:

Yellow House

Established in 1986, Yellow House is a unique youth organisation in Liverpool. The charity is named after Vincent van Gogh’s House in Arles where his door was always open to members of the local community. Yellow House is committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing and development of young people in the city.

The charity has been at the forefront of work with young people throughout Merseyside, working on a daily basis at its own centre, as well as in schools, colleges and other youth agencies. The work of Yellow House is often highly innovative, frequently working on major theatre, art and social projects.

Yellow House operates an open-door policy, providing a safe and sound environment where young people can gain self-understanding, confidence and inspiration for the future.

Visit: yellowhouse.org.uk

Mersey Forest Foundation

The Mersey Forest is a growing network of green spaces and woodlands across the Merseyside area. The Merseyside Forest Foundation’s 'more from trees' approach brings a whole host of environmental, health and economic benefits to the local area.

Over the past 25 years, the charity has planted over 9 million trees in the Merseyside region, putting them less than a million away from their 10 million tree target. The Mersey Forest Foundation has also helped to produce a number of school forests that enable children to learn more about local wildlife and the environment.

The Merseyside Forest Foundation aims to empower the local community to be proactive in improving its environmental impact and caring for nature both in the Liverpool area and beyond.

Visit: www.merseyforest.org.uk

The Whitechapel Centre

The Whitechapel Centre was founded in 1975 to meet the needs of the homeless in Liverpool, and this remains the charity’s main focus nearly 50 years later. Now with 120 employees and 60 volunteers, The Whitechapel Centre supports those sleeping rough in the city in a variety of ways.

The charity believes it is essential to empower and enable people to live independently. It works with some of the most vulnerable, isolated and lonely people in the local community, offering them activity sessions in which they can build confidence, skills and capability.

The mission statement of The Whitechapel Centre is: To prevent and resolve homelessness, social exclusion and housing poverty by providing practical, realistic, tailored support so that each person can find a route out of homelessness, maintain a home and achieve their individual potential.

Visit: whitechapelcentre.co.uk

The Brain Charity

The Brain Charity offers emotional support, practical help and social activities to anyone with a neurological condition, as well as providing support to their family, friends, and carers. The charity understands that being diagnosed with a neurological condition can be a frightening and bewildering experience, as many people face unemployment, poverty and social isolation as a result.

The mission of The Brain Charity is to enable all those affected by neurological conditions to live longer, healthier, happier lives. It has a vision of a world where stigma, hardship and isolation surrounding brain injuries is replaced by compassion and understanding.

The services offered by The Brain Charity include counselling, welfare benefits advice, adult learning courses, confidence building courses, support groups for different conditions, employment support, careers advocacy and supported volunteering opportunities.

Visit: www.thebraincharity.org.uk

Liverpool Cares

Liverpool Cares is a community network of young professionals and older neighbours that come together to help and support one another across the city.

As the world changes, the gap in society between the older and younger generations is unfortunately growing. Liverpool Cares works to close this gap and encourage communities to come together and ‘hang out’.

The goals of the charity are to: reduce isolation and loneliness amongst older people and young professionals alike, improve the connection, confidence, skills, resilience and power of all in Liverpool, and bring people together to reduce the gaps across social, generational, digital, cultural and attitudinal divides.

Visit: liverpoolcares.org.uk

Beacon Counselling Trust

The Beacon Counselling Trust is a charity that employs highly experienced and qualified counsellors to offer support to those with mild to moderate mental health issues in Liverpool and the surrounding regions.

The charity provides a number of free services, such as counselling, educational workshops, suicide bereavment support, and treatment for gambling and alcohol addiction.

The Beacon Counselling Trust aims to make life better for individuals and families suffering from mental health issues, and believes that these issues can be helped through counselling, even after the most catastrophic of life changing events.

Visit: beaconcounsellingtrust.co.uk

Action Transport Theatre

Action Transport Theatre works with children and young people as creative collaborators, to make professional and aspirational theatre which the charity shares locally, regionally, nationally and internationally from its home in Liverpool.

The charity believes that getting young people involved in theatre and the arts can dramatically increase their confidence and social skills, improving their life prospects. It also explores what theatre and new writing can do in the 21st Century and changing roles young people can play in the making of original and significant theatre in the modern day.

Action Transport Theatre develops new professional productions for traditional and non-traditional spaces. It also exports plays, processes, skills and ideas to ensure that the voices and creativity of young people contribute to the richness and diversity of our theatre landscape.

Visit: www.actiontransporttheatre.org/about-us

You can also find out about charities in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Hull, Glasgow, and Wolverhampton.