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Volunteer led initiative for SMEs through the COVID-19 period

Volunteer led initiative launched to help generate cash flow from neighbours for Limerick based SMEs through the COVID-19 period

  • New initiative is called Lean on me and is led by a number of well-known local volunteers from Limerick
  • Aim is to generate essential cashflows for local SMEs by helping customers to pay today for a voucher which will be redeemed at a later date when the chosen businesses reopen
  • Even if the shop is closed, people can pay for the vouchers through the online portal leanonme.eu
  • Aimed at small and medium sized local Limerick businesses that mean so much to so many people from coffee shops, barbers, hairdressers, butchers and every other local business we value
  • The pilot project is going live this coming week with some 20 city businesses. Other businesses and towns in the county are coming online very shortly.
  • Other businesses are free to apply to join.

LIMERICK, Friday 17th April 2020

Lean on me is an initiative devised by @LiveableLimerick and a group of local volunteers to help local Limerick businesses. The new volunteer led initiative uses smart technology to connect customers who want to support their favourite local business. The aim of Lean on me is to act as a conduit between every person who feel that they can contribute some cash and their favourite business. The new web portal www.leanonme.eu allows customers to pay for a voucher for their chosen local business which is collected at a later date after the business reopens.

The initiative especially helps business that do not have the existing IT infrastructure to generate very essential cash flow and sell vouchers online. The overall goal of Lean on me is to re-start the cashflow for local businesses. While businesses may have closed their doors and the cash dried up – the bills have not. Lean on me wants to ensure that local businesses re-open and flourish when the time is right. The people of Limerick’s immediate support will help business to re-open in the coming months.

The businesses hosted on Lean on me are businesses that everyone really wants to see open when we return back to normal. They are businesses that mean something to you (and us!). They are businesses that are not big enough to survive this on their own. The list of criteria is short, but it is important that as many people and businesses as possible get involved.

Criteria:

  • Independent retailer, or small chain with local origins
  • Locally operated and managed
  • Essential to the personality and fabric of Limerick
  • Irreplaceable if not sustained

The online portal, www.leanonme.eu, was built by Sean Ryan and his team at elive (a local Limerick business) while Pat Fitzgerald and his team at Grid Finance (another local business) will manage the safe transfer of funds from the customer to the business. This process is supported by a wider team of local volunteers from all different types of backgrounds but with one aim – to keep our favourite businesses going.

The idea started when local business leaders John Moran and Joe Brooks found a shared desire to support their favourite local Limerick businesses throughout the COVID-19 lockdown period. Since then, they have rallied the troops, using the #liveablelimerick network and found no shortage of volunteers with Will Ryan of the Limerick Post, local economist Seán Golden and Miriam O’Connor of Sellors Solicitors quickly showing an interest in getting involved.

The Lean on me team now stands at 10 direct volunteers with much more help coming from the wider community in Limerick as the days go on. Because of the travel restrictions, the team would particularly like to have other local business champions from all across the county make contact to see how the network of participating businesses to be supported can be expanded.

The process is simple. For vendors, they register their details on www.leanonme.eu and supply the relevant information then create awareness amongst the local community that they are now “open for business”. For customers it is just as easy, log on to www.leanonme.eu purchase a coupon (or coupons) for your business of choice and the retailer will reach out to you directly to discuss how you can redeem your voucher(s). While the process is simple, it will go a long way in helping the local business that we care most about. After all, SMEs in Limerick account for more than 44% of total employment, they are often the linchpin of many local communities and they are the businesses where many of us began our careers.

The website will go live on Monday 20th of April with business and customers both being able to start supporting each other.

A full list of businesses volunteering their time to set up and support Lean on me are:

RHH International

Limerick Post

Grid Finance

Sellors Solicitors

elive

Tola

Chair of #LiveableLimerick and founding member of Lean on me, John Moran, said

“Limerick is, above all, a county with a strong sense of community and belonging. We know how to survive by supporting each other. Lean on me looks to help our small businesses out by allowing them to rely on all of us just a little to get through this. Even €10 makes a big difference to a small business if enough people are able to contribute. Small and medium enterprises employ a substantial amount of people in both Limerick City and County they sustain a greater number of families through employment and operating in local areas. We want this to continue.”

Founding member of Lean on me, Joe Brooks, said

“These are businesses that we all care about, they are part of the fabric of Limerick City and County. They provide us with our daily coffee, our groceries, clothing and even the odd social gathering at the weekend. We want, and need, to see these businesses reopen. To let these businesses fight this period on their own does not coincide with the Limerick spirit. While we appreciate and empathise with many people not being in a position to continue to support their local favourite business, we hope there are many people out there that are lucky enough to still be in a position to offer support now when their local business needs it more than ever.”

Sean Ryan, Managing Director of elive and member of Lean on me, said

“It is great to see such a community spirit when it comes to supporting local business. Being part of a local business myself I know how important this will be in keeping them going. It is great to see such a large amount of local businesses looking to support other local business, from Pat and his team at Grid Finance, to Will’s team at the Limerick Post and Miriam’s team at Sellors everyone showed a real appetite to volunteer their time from the get go and get this system up and running. The process is really straight forward the customer comes to www.leanonme.eu and they select their amount and their chosen business input their payment information and that’s it. They will receive a confirmation receipt and the retailer will reach out letting them know how to redeem their voucher” 

Miriam O’Connor, Partner at Sellors Solicitors said

“Many of our clients are small traders and SME’s, who will and are struggling during the COVID lockdown. When John got in touch for our support, there was no hesitation on our part in getting involved and helping anyway we could as it is in all our interests to see these businesses, that we know and love re-open their doors once the crisis passes. Everyone involved in the initiative has worked day and night, over the last two weeks to get Lean On Me off the ground, for no reason other than to do our small bit to support our fellow businesses and friends in Limerick and to hopefully provide some small relief to them during this very difficult time.”

Further information Contact 

Lean on me

[email protected]

Seán Golden

Published On: April 20, 2020

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