Gaz Jones has embarked on the latest fundraising drive to help St Luke's Church
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Sport
Updated 14:44, 08 Mar 2025
Gaz Jones, 36 and from Liverpool, before setting out on his fundraising walk from Goodison Park to Molinuex ahead of Everton's game with Wolves. The dad-of-two is raising money to help restore facilities at St Luke's Church.
Gaz Jones, 36 and from Liverpool, before setting out on his fundraising walk from Goodison Park to Molinuex ahead of Everton's game with Wolves. The dad-of-two is raising money to help restore facilities at St Luke's Church.
An Everton season ticket holder is walking to the club's away game with Wolverhampton Wanderers to try and save part of St Luke's Church.
The site, on the Goodison Park footprint, has been part of the matchday experience for generations of Blues. But a recent flood, broken boiler and worsening damage throughout the hall and other spaces used by Everton fan initiatives means repairs are urgently needed.
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Gaz Jones is one of a collection of supporters desperate to ensure a building entwined with the club's history can be of value to the surrounding community long after the departure from the Grand Old Lady this summer. That is why he has embarked on the 81 mile trek - to help raise money towards a £25,000 renovation fund to help revive the church's wider facilities.
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The dad-of-two said: "For me, St Luke's IS Everton. There's lots of people, occasions and places synonymous with the club and this is one of them - it has been there ever since Goodison Park opened. It is home - how many people have had a cup of tea with their nan there before a game, or gone upstairs and looked through the programmes?
"Yes, we have the new ground and that is very exciting - I am looking forward to it. But I want us to be able to turn around and say thank you to St Luke's and wish them the best."
That means helping to fund the repairs that are desperately needed across a space that is crucial to Everton Heritage Society's matchday events, the memorabilia exhibitions and work of organisations such as KitAid. A recent flood added to the damage and wear and tear that decades of use have caused, with the site needing an overhaul of its electrics and work on the floors and ceilings - as well as a new boiler - if it is to have a chance of being able to host the youth groups and community events that would be so vital to surrounding families.
Arriving fans visit St Luke's Church on the corner of the ground to buy merchandise ahead of the English Premier League football match between Everton and Leicester City at Goodison Park in Liverpool. Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Arriving fans visit St Luke's Church on the corner of the ground to buy merchandise ahead of the English Premier League football match between Everton and Leicester City at Goodison Park in Liverpool. Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Gaz, who is a member of the heritage society, set out on his walk at 9am on Thursday and has endured all manner of challenges to stay on track to make the 8pm kick-off at Molineux.
Speaking to the ECHO while traversing Shropshire on Friday afternoon, he said: "It has been tough. I have been walking along a canal since Nantwich and have been through about 10 miles of slipping and sliding through the mud. It's hard on the legs and the parts where there is no pavement have been dangerous at times.
"I've done half marathons, marathons, the Goodison Sleepout - I do a fundraiser every year. This is the hardest."
The 36-year-old has had support on the way, from strangers like the canal boat captain who pulled in to give him money to the help of his wife, Helouise, who is supporting him along the way. He said he had been blown away by the support and that Wolves supporters had been in touch to say they would welcome him at the finishing line - including from those behind the Samosa Saturday charity iniative that will be running before the game, a charity-supporting drive led by inspirational Wolves fan Manny Singh Kang.
Everton Heritage Society member Richie Gillham, who is helping to lead a campaign to support desperately-needed renovations to parts of St Luke's Church complex on Goodison Road, next to Goodison Park, a hive of matchday activity for Blues. Image: Iain Watts
Everton Heritage Society member Richie Gillham, who is helping to lead a campaign to support desperately-needed renovations to parts of St Luke's Church complex on Goodison Road, next to Goodison Park, a hive of matchday activity for Blues. Image: Iain Watts
Drained but determined, Gaz, who lives in Liverpool city centre, said he would fight to the end - and was already dreaming of an away win to mark the completion of his challenge. The walk is the latest fundraiser as part of the work to restore St Luke's a campaign, one that is also being run with Richie Gillham - another key figure in the Blues' heritage society.
For more details, and to support their drive, click here.