Big-hearted schoolgirl Reimi Yasuda got the shock of her life when philanthropist Steve Morgan phoned her and offered to double whatever she raises for food banks in Liverpool.

The eight-year-old girl from Wavertree was featured in the Liverpool Echo after turning her artistic skills to helping raise money for Fans Supporting Foodbanks.

Fans Supporting Foodbanks is an initiative set up by a group of supporters who follow both Liverpool and Everton and Reimi was inspired to do something by the rainbows displayed in windows that have become a symbol of hope during the coronavirus outbreak. 

With the help of her family she set up a crowdfunding page and invited people to download her football-themed rainbow design and make a donation towards her initial target of £500.

Steve Morgan, who is the founder of the Steve Morgan Foundation, was made aware of Reimi’s fundraising efforts and decided to surprise the youngster with a phone call. (SEE VIDEO BELOW)

Her mum, Sarah Kinney, said: “It was amazing. After raising £500 she increased her target to £1,000 and Steve told her if she raised that he would double it to £2,000 and if she managed to get to £2,000 he would make it £4,000.

“She came off the phone and was said it was like Father Christmas had phoned her.  She didn’t think she would get to £500 but now she’s determined to get to £4,000.

“Reimi is such a compassionate girl and always wants to help others. She saw the empty supermarket shelves and wanted to help people less fortunate than herself. That’s where the idea of the food bank came up.”

Steve Morgan said: “It was lovely to be able to do something. Reimi said she was going to draw me a rainbow in exchange for making me broke!”

Morgan has committed to give £1m a week for an initial 12 weeks to charities in North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire to help them carry on working with the vulnerable during Covid-19.