St George's Hall is the emotional heart of Liverpool, where people gather in times of celebration, vigils, and commemorations. Its Grade I listed heritage serves as a key educational resource through which people of all generations, and from every corner of the world, learn about British history. Yet, like many Victorian buildings, its statues mark only the lives of white people and, until recently, only those of men.

Registered charity the St George's Hall Charitable Trust is determined to rectify this by commissioning a new statue to mark the life and achievements of Scottish-Jamaican nursing pioneer, Mary Seacole (1805-81).

Mary had an unshakeable belief in the power of nursing to make a difference. In 1853, she travelled to the Crimean War after the British government rejected her offer of help and nursed thousands of sick and injured soldiers, many of whom came from Liverpool.

She was a contemporary of Florence Nightingale, yet her expertise lay in herbal medicine and her hospital was established close to the battlefront, putting her own life at risk to save others. At the time, Mary's work was celebrated in the British press and by British soldiers, who called her Mother Seacole. Yet, over time, her achievements became overlooked in favour of her white contemporaries until in 2004, when she was named the greatest black Briton, following a BBC Survey of 100,000 people.

We believe our children deserve to see people of every colour celebrated in Liverpool's iconic St George's Hall. If we are to call a halt to generations of prejudice and distortion in the way our history is told, it is vital we make this change NOW. By erecting a statue of Mary Seacole to sit alongside those of her white contemporaries, we are both responding to the Black Lives Matter movement and celebrating Mary's nursing legacy. A legacy which today lives on in the bravery of the nurses and doctors on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis.

Once in place, the statue will be seen by 500,000 visitors a year, and will be featured in education programmes for schoolchildren and adults to ensure Mary's story is used to inspire others.

It will cost at least £165,000 to commission and create a statue worthy of Mary's achievements and an estimated further £55,000 to provide educational resources in the Hall about Mary and the statue-making project and pay for promotional events to raise awareness of the statue project. We really need as much help as possible to raise these sums in order to make Mary's statue a reality as soon as we can.

There are opportunities to give at every level and every donation will make a difference - if you would like to make a large donation please see the guide below and contact robin.thomaides@liverpool.gov.uk if you have any query.

Please help us celebrate our black history in Liverpool's most iconic building click here now. Thank you!

Claire Dove CBE, DL (Chair of St. Georges Hall Charitable Trust )

D O N A T I O N S of £10,000 - £100,000

Major donors receive a commemorative plaque in both the North and South entrance areas to St Georges Hall.

Private invitation of acknowledgement at statue launch.

Exclusive invitation* to a private performance of the Mary Seacole play to be performed at St Georges Hall.

Receipt of commemorative pieces of the actual stone from which the statue is created.

Major donors will be placed and recorded publicly on a Trustees link page about Mary Seacole on the St Georges Hall website as well as the archive records of St Georges Hall dating back to the construction of the building.

Private view of the NHS photographic exhibition of front-line staff and war veterans who have served on the front line during the global pandemic.

*Invitation is for up to ten people

D O N A T I O N S of £1,000 - £10,000

Invitation to a private performance of the Mary Seacole play to be performed at St Georges Hall.

Receipt of commemorative pieces of the actual stone from which the statue is created.

Funders will be placed and recorded publicly on a Trustees link page about Mary Seacole on the St Georges Hall website as well as the archive records of St Georges Hall dating back to the construction of the building.

Private view of the NHS photographic exhibition of front-line staff and war veterans who have served on the front line during the global pandemic.

D O N A T I O N S of £20.00 - £1,000

Invitation to a private performance of the Mary Seacole play to be performed at St Georges Hall

Receipt of commemorative pieces of the actual stone from which the statue is created

Funders will be placed and recorded publicly on a Trustees link page about Mary Seacole on the St Georges Hall website as well as the archive records of St Georges Hall dating back to the construction of the building.

Private view of the NHS photographic exhibition of front-line staff and war veterans who have served on the front line during the global pandemic.