The historic Lord Mayor of Manchester’s charity is entering an exciting new era under the banner of We Love MCR.

The charity – which aims to address the effects of poverty in the city, helping the young, sick, infirm and the elderly – has relaunched, adopting the look and feel of the hugely successful I Love MCR campaign.

The campaign became the symbol of the positive action taken by residents and businesses following disturbances in the city this summer, and the revamp of the charity is part of the legacy of that action to continue doing good. The charity has an ambitious fundraising target of £500,000 for the coming year (twenty times it’s previous income).

This is an excellent opportunity for businesses, voluntary organisations and Manchester people in general to get involved with the new-look charity” says Manchester City Council Chief Executive Sir Howard Bernstein. “We Love MCR is an opportunity to support a Manchester charity which helps Manchester people, and we are looking at making it easier for people to support the charity through things like giving by text, and at how we might be able to get people more involved in deciding where the money goes.

Much of the funds raised by the charity are used to help disadvantaged families in the city, with more than 2000 families and individuals already helped. The remainder has helped causes as diverse as a boxing club and interactive music events for a children’s hospice.

Groups previously helped by the charity have included the Mancunian Amateur Boxing club, Music in Hospitals and the Indian Senior Citizens’ Centre, as well as hundreds of families and individuals.

More information on the charity is available at www.justgiving/welovemcr and a new website for the charity is under construction.

Donations can also be made by texting MANC00’£5’(the value of your donation) to 70070.