A social enterprise that relied on matchday income from Liverpool Football Club can plan for the future with confidence after receiving ‘lifeline’ funding for a second time.

Homebaked is a bakery and café based a stone’s throw away from the new Premier League champions’ Anfield stadium and before Covid-19 they used to get 40 per cent of their income from the football club and matchday trade.

When the pandemic struck the Steve Morgan Foundation initially awarded them £13,920 from its Covid-19 Emergency Fund which allowed them to stay open and continue baking bread.

Following the decision to extend the campaign until the end of September, the organisation has been awarded a second grant of £15,000 which has enabled them to reopen their shop to takeaways and bring another member of staff back from furlough. 

Treasurer Sally-Anne Watkiss: “The support of the Steve Morgan Foundation has kept us going until we can secure other funding.

“When Covid-19 struck we were at serious risk after losing the football-related trade and the easiest thing to have done would have been to close up. However we remained open, supported community group and now we’re reopening our shop.” 

Since the pandemic started Homebaked has supplied 600 freshly baked loaves of bread a week to five community groups, delivered more than 3,000 of their famous pies to customers and donated another 800 to key workers. 

They’ve also supplied more than 7,000 packs of Saputo butter across Merseyside and continued to support local residents.

Sally-Anne said: “Why should people in poverty not have access to good quality bread?”

The social enterprise furloughed 14 or their 20 staff when Covid-19 struck but have taken another member of staff out of furlough with the reopening of their shop.

Sally-Anne said: “The first three months were really challenging and all about keeping us going. With the reopening of the shop we’re slowly coming back to life although there’s still a long way to go.

“We’re really grateful to the Steve Morgan Foundation for the awards.  The applications were turned around really quickly, which was crucial. 

“We’re a social enterprise rooted in the community and we know what the community needs.”

The Steve Morgan Foundation’s Covid-19 Emergency Fund has now handed out 487 awards totalling £4,771,868 across North Wales, Cheshire and Merseyside.

Jane Harris, director of regional funding at the Steve Morgan Foundation, said: “Homebaked has continued to perform a vital role throughout the pandemic and we’re delighted to continue our support for them.”