One of Liverpool’s best-loved Italian restaurants – Casa Italia – asked customers to add £1 to their bills to support Alder Hey Children’s Charity, and they have been overwhelmed with the response. Tony McDonough reports

Diners at the popular Casa Italia restaurant in Liverpool city centre have raised a magnificent £10,000 for Alder Hey Children’s Charity in just eight weeks.

Located in Stanley Street, the family-owned venue opened almost 50 years ago and has remained a firm favourite despite the rapid growth of Liverpool’s hospitality sector. Famous customers have included Paul McCartney, Liam Gallagher and Kylie Minogue.

Mario Campolucci-Bordi took over the restaurant in the 1970s and the baton was later passed to his son Carlo. Today Carlo’s son Arran runs Casa Italia along with other family members including his sister Lucia Campolucci-Bordi.

She told LBN: “We truly are a generational, family business. At Casa we serve on average 4,000 to 5,000 customers every week and we decided we wanted to give back to our incredible city.

“We pride ourselves on being an independent family run business and we welcome families and children here with open arms. So we decided, what better way to give back to Liverpool than to help raise funds for Liverpool’s famous children’s hospital Alder Hey.”

Specifically the restaurant decided to raise funds for the Alder Hey Children’s Charity. It supports children being treated at the hospital and their families by helping develop new treatments, buy medical equipment and create “magical ward experiences”.

They decided to give their customers the option of adding £1 to their bills. At the last count the total had reached £10,000 in just eight weeks. However, Lucia believes this is now heading towards £13,000.

“We all understand how important it is for children to have the opportunity to play and be creative, even when they are poorly,” she added.

“These generous donations are helping to fund the provision of play specialists, resources, art and craft materials and toys for patients, as well as presents and festivities for families at Christmas.

“So at Casa we just want to say a huge thank you to every customer that has opted to add £1 to their bill to continue to keep the children of Liverpool safe and supported should they ever need the help of Alder Hey.”

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Funds raised by Casa customers are currently being used to support a project to install permanent sensory wall toys and equipment in the Orthopaedic ward, and to create a dedicated space for older patients to unwind in the hospital.

Cast is also helping purchase two Gripables (hand exercisers), to be used in therapy to focus on hand function. These will be used by the community physio. And cash is going towards soft play chairs and activity walls in the new neurological clinic.