The Chloe and Liam Together Forever’ trust’s mission statement is,”to inspire and support others to achieve and reach their full potential through the love of sport and performance”.
On May 22, the world was horrified by a senseless attack on Manchester arena, just minutes after Ariana Grande had finished her show, and fans were leaving the arena to head home. 22 people lost their lives that evening and over 500 more were injured.
Among those that tragically lost their lives were 17-year- old Chloe Rutherford and her 19-year-old boyfriend Liam Curry from South Shields.
It takes amazing strength and courage to in the face of a senseless tragedy to be able to want help others but Chloe and Liam’s loved ones were determined to do something positive in their memories, so they created the”The Chloe and Liam Together Forever’ trust.
Chloe and Liam’s parents, Mark and Lisa Rutherford and Caroline Curry were given the special recognition award at the Pride of Britain: Pride of the North East Awards earlier this year in recognition for all the hard work they’ve put into the trust. Before they collected the award Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards who are 2/4 of Little Mix and also both from South Shields, paid tribute to the families in a video and work they have been doing within South shields since they started the trust.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg55U0nnMF6/?taken-by=candltft
So far the trust has raised over £90,000 and the total increases every day. Rapper Stormzy, Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan, Jennifer Ellison, Stephen Mulhern and the stars of Strictly have shown their support by wearing the trust’s blue and pink wristbands.
The idea behind the trust is to help achieve their goals and to fulfill their dreams, something that Chloe and Liam did not get the chance to do. The focus of the charity draws inspiration from the things Chloe and Liam both loved. Chloe was a talented singer-songwriter who also played the piano and loved to get involved with all aspects of being backstage in a production. Liam loved Cricket, both as a player and a fan. Before his death, Liam was teaching young kids how to play and had passed all his coaching certificates.
The trust hopes to be able to help others with such things as auditions, exams, coaching qualifications, travel expenses etc. The trust would love to reach their goal of paying a full-time teacher to be able to supply the teaching of singing lessons and musical instruments training at subsided costing for all.
Anyone wanting to apply for a bursary can do so but decisions regarding applications can only be made following a meeting of the trustees of the trust which usually take place at the end of January, March, June, and September.
The Together Forever Trust has a charity ball planned on June 22, at the Hilton New Castle Gateshead. They previously also held a Charity Football match at Mariners Park the teams were made up of staff from the Hilton Gateshead and the Combined Emergency services of Greater Manchester.
You can find out more about the events the trust has planned or download a form to apply for the bursary by checking out their Facebook.
The Chloe and Liam Together Forever Trust also has Twitter and Instagram so be sure to give them a follow.