Northwich Community Host Online Quiz To Raise Funds For Flood Victims
Members of the Northwich community have teamed up with the Northwich Floods Help to raise much needed funds for local businesses through an online zoom quiz.
The ‘Big Fat Northwich Quiz’ is due to go ahead on the 11th March at 7.30pm, and will feature general knowledge questions alongside a Northwich based round.
Amanda Cope, 27, a teacher from Northwich, decided to organise the event to help small local businesses in the town after a number of them suffered at the hands of Storm Christoph earlier in the year.
Explaining why it was so important for the community to rally round the businesses and raise funds, Ms. Cope said: “Around 10–15 businesses were affected, some need a total re-fit, re-decoration and product replacement, others just need a new floor and a deep clean.
“Many don’t want to reach out and ask for help. [The] town has already lost a lot of big names, we don’t want to lose the smaller ones too.”
So far, the fundraising activities have raised over £9,000 for those affected, almost half of the target the group have given themselves.
Quizmaster, Julian Williams, 66, said: “They knew how popular the quizzes I’d been emailing out last year were, so they asked me if I would host it.
“I didn’t hesitate to say yes, it’s something that I like doing, so I was more than happy to say yes I would host it for them.”
Storm Christoph wasn’t the first time the town had experienced catastrophic damage due to flood water, with the true extent of the 2019 floods discussed in a new council report.
Flood defences had previously been installed along both the River Weaver and Dane in 2016, however, although this provided added protection for around 400 homes, many of the towns buildings were left at risk due to a multitude of other factors.
Andrew Cooper, a councillor for the Northwich Leftwich Ward at the Cheshire West and Chester Council, explained some of the challenges the town was facing: “The direct costs to Cheshire West and Chester Council for dealing with Storm Christoph have so far totalled £0.5m, and so far the government has declined to provide any funding to help with the costs or recovery.
“It’s heart-breaking to see businesses in the town centre go through this a second time in successive winters. The way that our community has pulled together, got behind their town centre and donated money to help it recover — especially in such difficult times — is inspiring and makes me proud to represent it.
“As the Lead Local Flood Authority, Cheshire West and Chester Council has the larger task of getting to the root cause of the flooding, which will be a major piece of work in the coming months.
“More immediately, the Council has created a £100,000 fund that businesses affected by the flooding can apply to in order to make improvements to their premises and perhaps protect them from future flooding.”
The Cabinet Office have been contacted for comment with regards to this however at the time of publication had not yet responded.
