Man picks out 12 random strangers and lets them dish out his £100k inheritance to poor area
A man who received £100,000 in inheritance gave it to 12 strangers and let them decide what to do with the money instead.
34-year-old researcher and delivery driver David Clarke said he already had enough money to live on, so instead wanted to 'do his bit' to tackle inequality in his local area.
The Toxteth man decided to put 'more power' in his community's hands and decided to pick a dozen people who'd get to decide what the money would go on.
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He wrote to 600 households in the L8 area of Liverpool and got 38 people writing back as most reckoned it was some sort of scam.
David then picked 12 people at random from those who responded and got them together to decide how the money should be spent, with the only rule being they weren't allowed to spend it on themselves.
The group decided they wanted to help tackle poverty in their area and picked four organisations which would receive an equal split of the £100k.
They chose a community centre called The Florrie, the school network Dingle, Granby and Toxteth Collaborative, children's charity Team Oasis and finally, the Granby and Toxteth Development Trust.
After discussing where the money would go during June and July last year, each group got £25k from David's inheritance to spend how they like.
Everyone who showed up to all the sessions to discuss what to do also received a £200 bonus to say thanks for the time and effort they put into figuring out what David's money could do.
The 34-year-old charted his fundraising journey through the Wealth Shared site he set up, and David said he'd love to support anyone doing the same thing.
By some measures, the L8 postcode is one of the more deprived parts of the country.
Among those dozen chosen to make the call on where the money went, it was agreed that dishing it out locally was the right thing to do.
As for what that money will do, the Dingle, Granby and Toxteth Collective said their share of it would go towards helping improve the lives of the roughly 1,000 children in their care.
They said they've 'never known it so bad' as far as financial pressure on schools goes and that they've been having to organise whip-rounds with staff to try and cover all their costs.
The school network also said food banks operating on school premises had seen a rise in demand and the schools were providing more meals to kids they knew would otherwise go hungry.
So, there you go. If you inherit some money you don't really need maybe you ought to give David's idea a go and see what some of your neighbours think.
Joe Harker