Liverpool Mayor's fund offers 'hope' for poor 21 November 2013 Last updated at 05:02 A new charity to help relieve poverty has been founded by Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson. Money raised by The Mayor's Hope Fund will support foodbanks in the city, with £25,000 pledged by the council. Donations can be made by shoppers at the till in any Tesco supermarket by scanning a special donation barcode. Mr Anderson said: "These are tough times for people... and as a result demand for our foodbanks is rising month on month." He added: "The idea for the Hope Fund originates from a special summit held earlier this year at Liverpool Cathedral on Hope Street, in which we were looking at how we could support foodbanks." There are three main centres in Liverpool which fed almost 7,000 people from April to August, an 88% rise on the same period last year.