Our CEO goes head to head with John Bishop in charity pie challenge!

Published: 12 December 2019

Shoppers at Liverpool Christmas Markets were given a festive surprise on Wednesday (11 December) when South Liverpool Homes (SLH) CEO Julie Fadden went head-to-head with Liverpool comedian John Bishop in a pie-selling challenge to raise money for homeless people in the city.

Julie was taking part in Liverpool Homeless FC and The Back Kitchen’s ‘Suit and Pie Challenge’, which challenged local CEOs to come and sell community land trust Homebaked’s award-winning pies from a stall in Liverpool Christmas Markets at St George’s Hall.

Last week, dressed as a Christmas pudding, Julie made it through the heats in style. Julie sold 168 pies to meet Bishop, who is Liverpool Homeless FC’s patron, in the finale – a head-to-head challenge to decide the winner.

News of the popular comedian’s attendance spread fast and soon the stall was mobbed with fans keen to get a tasty scouse pie, an autograph and a selfie with Bishop, who made the trip back to Liverpool specially before rushing off to a live show in the evening.

However it was the SLH chief who got the upper crust, trouncing Bishop’s pie sales and taking the victory for SLH. Julie sold 82 pies and raised over £2,000 for the charity including proceeds from her Just Giving page. But the real winners were Liverpool Homeless FC and the people they serve.

“It has been fantastic to be a part of this very special event,” said Julie. “Liverpool Homeless FC do an amazing job supporting homeless and socially-excluded people in this city, and through their project The Back Kitchen, offer people real opportunities to empower themselves and improve their life chances.”

Commenting on his performance in the challenge, John Bishop said “It was a brilliant day – Julie is exceptional – unbelievable. Julie has excelled. In fact I’m going to get her to promote my next tour.”

South Liverpool Homes has a long history of working in partnership with local and national homelessness charities. As CIH president back in 2017, Julie chose Crisis as her nominated charity, raising over £65,000 to support their work.