Steven Gerrard Visits Red Balloon Merseyside

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The building, which is set to open its doors on May 21, is a school for bullied children in the city and a safe haven where they can learn and receive quality education.

A donation of £20,000 was made by the Barclays Premier League's Creating Chances initiative and Liverpool Football Club selected the Red Balloon Merseyside as their chosen recipient for the money.

The appeal was launched in 2008 with a target of raising £1m to create a centre for the recovery of bullied children, similar to those run by the Red Balloon charity in Cambridge, Norwich and London.

"It's great to see the club and the Premier League get together and donate some money towards this fantastic project," said the Liverpool captain.

"Bullying is a big issue and it's something we need to make people aware of.

"We've all seen it and experienced it in our lives and unfortunately there's still people out there suffering from it. Hopefully this will go a long way towards preventing this.

"I think it's a fantastic site. The £20,000 donation will go a long way towards improving the facilities there and it will be a nice environment for the children to go there and learn.

The inspirational skipper took part in a lesson with the children and spoke about injuries in football. He gave advice about prevention and revealed that his worst ever problem was a broken metatarsal.

Gerrard was also moved when he was informed one of the children couldn't make the lesson because he had become too traumatised over the possibility of meeting his idol.

Meanwhile the co-ordinator for Red Balloon Merseyside, said: "This is an incredibly proud day for us and the culmination of a lot of hard work.

"Our main focus is getting these children back on their feet and getting this house open is a massive leap forward.

"We were stunned when we found out Liverpool FC had chosen us to receive the £20,000 and it's just absolutely fantastic.

"Money is limited for charities in this financial climate so the club have done such a great thing.

"The kitchen in particular is a focal point of the house. We make sure at the lunches everyone sits around for a family dinner.

"We have been working on this house for two years and we will be opening on May 21 when the first four children arrive.

"In total we will have 15 children at the school aged between 10 and 17. They get to take five GCSE's and then some vocational subjects."

-- Posted by Red Balloon - Merseyside on 6th May 2010 --

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