Support in Southport
The events in Southport were truly shocking and community will need support in the weeks and months to come. Please find details of support across a range of different topics below.
Victim Support Merseyside
Victim Care Merseyside is the Police and Crime Commissioner’s dedicated service providing free, confidential support for all victims of crime living in Merseyside.
The service consists of a hub of specially trained staff acting as a single point of contact for all victims and survivors offering access to free, confidential advice and support.
Stop Hate UK
Stop Hate UK are a national organisation supporting people who have witnessed or are affected by hate crime. If you are witnessing a crime taking place, you should report it to the police. Young people can use Stop Hate UK’s Call Hate Out service, which offers advice for people under 18.
Bereavement
Child Death Helpline offer support to anyone affected by the death of a child of any age, from pre-birth to adult, under any circumstances, whether recently or long ago. It provides an opportunity to talk in confidence to someone who has also experienced the death of a child. Free Phone 0800 282 986
The Alder Centre provides bereavement care through counselling, group activities and other complimentary therapies for parents and families Located at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital 0151 252 5391
Sefton in Mind
If you have been affected – directly or indirectly - by the tragic events in Southport, you can find a range of support at www.seftoninmind.org.uk.
The Sefton In Mind pages on mental health support provide information on how to access to a wide range of services in Sefton, including Crisis Support, Specialist Services including bereavement, Support for Men, Support for Women and Someone to Speak to.
Use this link to visit Sefton in Mind.
Talking Therapies
Psychological treatments, sometimes called talking therapy are available to help people with common mental health problems such as feeling stressed, feeling low in mood (depressed) or very nervous (anxiety).
Referrals to NHS Talking Therapies is different in each area.
In Sefton, you can contact Mental Health Matters.
You can use the links below to find support if you live in these areas:
If you live outside of these areas, you can visit www.nhs.uk/talk.
SHOUT crisis service
If you feel you may feel as though you don't want to talk to someone you know or in person right now, and that's ok - just text SHOUT on 85258
SHOUT can give you free, confidential, anonymous support, 24/7.
Young People
Kooth
Kooth is an online chat-based mental health support service for young people between the ages of 10 and 25.
They offer free, safe and anonymous support through 1-to-1 chats with mental health professionals and via moderated forums and articles.
Kooth is available 24/7 with the 1 to 1 chat feature operating between the hours of 12noon and 10pm on weekdays and from 6pm to 10pm during weekends.
You can find more about Kooth here.
Alder Hey Crisis Care Service
Alder Hey Crisis Care Service offers 24-hour support to children and young people who are in mental health crisis.
If you or someone you care for in Sefton or Liverpool is under 18 and having a mental health crisis call:
- CAMHS Crisis Care Line: 0151 293 3577
- Freephone CAMHS Crisis Care Line number: 0808 196 35
ChatHealth
ChatHealth is a confidential service that provides health and wellbeing advice via text message.
Young people aged 11-19 years can gain advice on health and wellbeing from a School Nurse via a text messaging service ChatHealth. You can remain anonymous if they wish.
The number for ChatHealth Sefton is 07312 263291.
Samaritans
Samaritans is a charity that provides support and listening to people in the UK and Ireland who are struggling to cope. They are available 24/7, 365 days a year – if you need someone to talk to, call 116 123.
https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
After a distressing or frightening event: Information for those affected
After experiencing a distressing, frightening or traumatic event, it is normal to notice a range of reactions.
These reactions are part of a natural process of making sense of events after something difficult has happened. Not everyone experiences this, but a great many people do.
Professional psychological treatment is not usually needed or recommended in this early stage.
When more help is needed
When you have been involved in a traumatic situation it is common to feel scared and upset for a period of time afterwards.
Everybody reacts in different ways, there is no right way to think and feel. These responses usually settle down after a while, but it can take time and people often have good days and bad days. Most people will notice the impacts of the event gradually normalising over the first month.
If, a month or more after the event, you are still distressed by the signs and symptoms below then it might be worth thinking about getting some psychological support.
- Feeling upset and fearful
- Finding it difficult to stop thinking about the incident
- Having nightmares
- Feeling more irritable
- Feeling more jumpy
- Struggling to work or look after your home and family
- Starting to have relationship difficulties
- Using drugs or drinking alcohol more than usual
- Acting very differently to before the trauma
- Struggling to enjoy life
- Feeling emotionally
There is a wide range of psychological support available, from basic distress management to more in-depth trauma therapy. These types of psychological support are also offered in a variety of formats including courses, face to face in person or virtually via video platform or online via internet enabled therapy.
If you would like some psychological support your local NHS Talking Therapies Service (Formerly known as Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies) will be able to help and there may be other services in your local area. You can self-refer to some or you could ask your GP to refer you.
You can use this link to find details of your local NHS Talking Therapies Service.
When should I seek more help?
If at any time you are feeling unable to keep yourself safe, please contact crisis services on one of the numbers below:
Urgent care or crisis freephone support
Liverpool and Sefton 0800 145 6570
Halton, Knowsley, St Helens or Warrington
0800 051 1508
NHS 111 (Option 2)
Family Hubs
Linaker Street Family Hub is open for members of the community to get support.
Whether that be to gather together, have a brew or find support, please come and see our teams. We have mental health and talking therapy teams on site for anyone who may need them.
The Linaker Street Family Wellbeing Centre is at Linaker Street, Southport, PR8 5DQ.
You can contact Linaker Street Family Hub by telephone on 0151 288 6766 or by email.
CVS Support for Southport
Information on the latest VCF sector support and resources for communities affected by the tragic events in Southport can be found here on the Sefton CVS website.
Sefton CVS will be updating the information as the VCF sector responds to provide help and support to all those affected at this difficult time.
ChatHealth
ChatHealth is a confidential service that provides health and wellbeing advice via text message.
Young people aged 11-19 years can gain advice on health and wellbeing from a School Nurse via a text messaging service ChatHealth. You can remain anonymous if you wish.
The number for ChatHealth Sefton is 07312 263291.
Kooth
Kooth is an online chat-based mental health support service for young people between the ages of 10 and 25.
They offer free, safe and anonymous support through 1-to-1 chats with mental health professionals and via moderated forums and articles.
Kooth is available 24/7 with the 1 to 1 chat feature operating between the hours of 12noon and 10pm on weekdays and from 6pm to 10pm during weekends.
You can find more about Kooth here.
Alder Hey Crisis Care Service
Alder Hey Crisis Care Service offers 24-hour support to children and young people who are in mental health crisis.
If you or someone you care for in Sefton or Liverpool is under 18 and having a mental health crisis call:
- CAMHS Crisis Care Line: 0151 293 3577
- Freephone CAMHS Crisis Care Line number: 0808 196 35
Leaflets on trauma after an incident
Below are links to leaflets that can help parents and children affected.
- Understanding_and_Managing_trauma_-_for_children_V6.pdf (penninecare.nhs.uk)
- Looking_after_your_child_following_trauma_-_a_guide_for_parents.pdf (penninecare.nhs.uk)
- Supporting children and young people involved in major trauma:
Advice for parents, caregivers and teachers
Letters
Letters signed by headteachers from the Southport Learning Partnership, the Leader of Sefton Council and the Council’s Assistant Director for Education were sent to parents and carers of pupils attending schools in Southport at the start of the new academic year in September 2024.
Family Hubs
Linaker Family Hub is offering specialist support with its mental health and talking
therapy teams who will be on site.
Linaker Family Hub, 103 Linaker Street, Southport, PR8 5DQ
Our Family Hub network across Sefton provides a range of different services and are
open for people to find advice and support across a range of issues.
Educational Psychology Service
Sefton’s Educational Psychology Service is available to support schools and settings
directly affected. Contact Ez Mills, Principal Educational Psychologist
ez.mills@sefton.gov.uk
The team have provided guidance on how to navigate difficult conversations with
children around fear, trauma and anxiety and have also provided a script to help you
have these conversations.
Psychological and Mental Health Support
Sefton In Mind
If you have been affected – directly or indirectly - by the tragic events in Southport, you can find a range of support at www.seftoninmind.org.uk
The Sefton In Mind pages on mental health support provide information on how to
access to a wide range of services in Sefton, including Crisis Support, Specialist Services including bereavement, Support for Men, Support for Women and Someone to Speak to.
Kooth
Kooth is an online chat-based mental health support service for young people between the ages of 10 and 25.
They offer free, safe and anonymous support through 1-to-1 chats with mental health professionals and via moderated forums and articles.
Kooth is available 24/7 with the 1 to 1 chat feature operating between the hours of 12noon and 10pm on weekdays and from 6pm to 10pm during weekends.
You can find more about Kooth here.
Bereavement
The Child Death Helpline run jointly by Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and
Great Ormand Street Hospital.
For anyone effected by the death of a child of any age 0808 800 6019
The Alder Centre which provides bereavement care for parents and families at Alder
Hey 0151 252 5391
Winston’s Wish: The Charity for Bereaved Children
08452 030 405 or www.winstonswish.org.uk
Sefton CVS Support
Sefton CVS have put together a list of support agencies in Southport as well as details of the Southport Stronger Together fundraiser.
Support for Education Professionals
Education Support Partnership (a UK charity dedicated to improving the health and
wellbeing of teachers and the entire education workforce)
www.educationsupportpartnership.org.uk or 08000 562 561
Community Reassurance
We understand people may be concerned about attending community events and
groups for children. We want to offer reassurance to the community and give you the
resources and confidence to ensure these activities can go ahead in a safe manner.
We believe that it is safe for holiday activities, children’s groups, etc to run as planned
over the summer break. We want children to feel like they can have a fabulous, exciting time this summer and for them to make memories that they will treasure.
We have seen significant amounts of misinformation online and we must reiterate that
this type of tragic incident is extremely rare, and our community have pulled together
with love and care. However, we understand that families and children may have
anxieties and worries for some time to come. This has been a traumatic incident in our
town and we know everyone will process that trauma in a different way and at different times.
We would advise all groups to review their risk assessments and where possible ensure everyone is signed in and out of site, and do everything they can to reduce risk.
If children or families are worried about attending events, we have provided resources
from our Educational Psychology team around explaining and dealing with trauma or
frightening situations with children.
Letters
Letters signed by headteachers from the Southport Learning Partnership, the Leader of Sefton Council and the Council’s Assistant Director for Education were sent to parents and carers of pupils attending schools in Southport at the start of the new academic year in September 2024.
You can use this link to read a copy of the letter.
| Children's guide to managing trauma |  (pdf 5.36MB) |
| Guidance from educational psychology team | (pdf 184KB) |
| How to talk to children about Southport Incident | (pdf 285KB) |
| Sefton support for schools and settings | (pdf 211KB) |
| Supporting children after a frightening event | (pdf 225KB) |
| Southport Learning Partnership and Sefton Council Letter to parents | (pdf 623KB) |
| Understanding_and_Managing_trauma_-_for_children_V6 | (pdf 2.02MB) |
Significant psychological, economic and community support is continuing for people in Southport, boosted by a £5.6million funding package to aid the town’s recovery.
Community Recovery Fund
Leaders in Sefton have welcomed the financial support for Southport, with the Government pledging monetary aid as part of its Community Recovery Fund to support the town.
The offer of support builds on the strong relationship between the council and central government, who have been steadfast in their support for the local community following the tragic events in July.
Focusing heavily on all efforts that prioritise children, families, and businesses around Southport, it will allow for the creation and extension of programs that address both immediate and long-term needs including mental health support, community rebuilding, and economic revitalization.
Funding
The funding is broken down as follows:
- £1,884,700 to support Southport schools and education provisions affected by the tragic events. This includes increased support for complex emotional needs and training for school staff to help pupils who may need or want additional support.
- £790,000 allocated for community cohesion initiatives. This will focus on programs to educate on equality, diversity, and inclusion, including work with minority ethnic communities and addressing extremist ideologies. Funding will also be used for enhanced youth services in Southport, with activities to promote social cohesion and combat racism and extremism. Grants from this funding pot will be available for community events to strengthen local bonds and improve community spirit.
- £665,000 continues to provide comprehensive psychological support to victims, families, and the wider community. This includes expanded mental health services to meet both short and long term psychological needs, enhanced occupational health support and a broader health and wellbeing offer.
- £1.9 million for the economy of Southport. This ranges from grants which have already been given to businesses in the Hart Street and St Lukes Road area, with the remainder going towards enhancing existing destination events and supporting the development of new destination events, and marketing campaigns that will attract visitors to Southport, ultimately boosting footfall and spending. It will also contribute to long-term regeneration and new development opportunities.
- £420,000 has been allocated to the Southport Recovery Team within Sefton Council to coordinate and oversee all recovery efforts efficiently. This involves a fixed-term team of specialists who manage the recovery efforts and ensure continued collaboration among partners.A report to its Sefton Council’s Cabinet meeting on Thursday 9th January 2025, outlined how Southport is responding to and recovering from the tragic events which took place in July 2024.
Ongoing recovery
The report looks closely at how Sefton Council, along with partners, are leading on a specialist ongoing recovery operation which focusses on helping children and families heal, creating safer and more united communities, assisting affected businesses and supporting with wider sustainable economic recovery longer term for the town.
School needs, hate crime initiatives, enhanced youth services, support for small businesses and long term place marketing and expansion of the destination events programmes and strategies will all benefit from more than £5,000,000 in combined aid from Central and Local Government.
It also outlines how all government aid finances will be allocated to ensure full transparency, as Sefton Council continues to help families and the wider community.
Sefton Council has established a Business Recovery Fund to provide financial assistance to businesses and organisations located in the Hart Street and St Lukes Road areas of Southport. This is seen as an immediate priority as the Council and its partners review wider impacts on the town’s economy.
InvestSefton, the Council’s business growth and investment service, is delivering the fund and the team has already reached out to support businesses following the incident. This will continue including supporting all applicants throughout the process.
The fund will be delivered in three phases:
- Businesses and tenants located in Norwood Business Centre/Hart Space in Hart Street, Southport.
- Businesses located in Hart Street, St Lukes and/or any business located very close to these roads who have been affected. Consideration will also be given to self-employed living in the area who may also have had their business affected.
- Self-employed parents or guardians whose children were directly involved in the incident in Hart Space, Southport
The fund will support businesses and self-employed people (see3 above) with loss of sales they have incurred and unanticipated expenditure they have had to incur. Evidence to support these losses and expenditure will be required.
Important - The fund is not for damages to premises caused by the riot. For property damage both affected residents and businesses can make a claim at the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner's Riot Compensation Scheme webpages
If you are interested in applying - please contact InvestSefton on 0151 934-3452 (Option 2) or email InvestSefton@sefton.gov.uk
InvestSefton will issue each potential applicant with a claim form and guidance notes, this information should only be accessed via InvestSefton. All expressions of interest in the fund will be recorded by InvestSefton.
InvestSefton will provide support to all eligible applicants to guide them through the process and answer any queries you may have that are not included within the guidance notes.
Please note if phone lines are busy - applicants should leave a message with their name, email address and contact details and a team member will respond as quickly as possible,
Thank You – Sefton Council
How to report hate crime
Hate crimes can be reported directly to the police or via charities and organisations that provide specialist support services for victims of hate crime.
You can use this link to report a hate crime and find out more.
Always call 999 if a crime is in progress.
Dedicated coordinators
Merseyside Police has dedicated Hate Crime Coordinators who lead teams of specially trained officers. The teams monitor, assess, and investigate hate crimes across Merseyside, ensuring that victims are supported throughout the process, and do all in their power to ensure that offenders are put before the courts.
Sefton Council is building on its work to support businesses in Southport with a series of free services in the wake of the tragic events of the Summer.
The Local Authority has brought in a number of helpful measures, including free pre planning advice and food hygiene support for both new and existing businesses.
This follows the establishment of a Business Recovery Fund which provided financial assistance to businesses and organisations located in the Hart Street and St Lukes Road areas of Southport who had suffered from prolonged and enforced closure.
As Sefton Council and its partners continue to work with the business and economy sector, a number of teams within the Council are busy working around the clock to ensure extra support measures are in place for the wider town.
A number of free services are set to launch from December, including:
• In person planning advice from a senior officer for businesses and investors looking to develop in the town centre
• Free pre-planning applications for developments which make 'positive contributions' to the town centre and seafront
• Free support for food businesses to comply with hygiene legislation.
• Free guidance on workplace health and safety in relation to commercial premises.
We are acutely aware of how vital businesses are to ensuring Southport and the wider Borough can recover from the tragic and shocking events of July.
We know that they need help and we are doing all that we can to ensure there is help available. This includes looking at how much we can use the expert knowledge of our senior officers to support businesses and investors to make it easier to grow.
Some of the best food hygiene standards in the country are in Sefton and Southport is rich in hospitality however rules and regulations change frequently and we want to ensure our businesses who do supply food and drink are in the best possible position to meet and exceed hygiene standards.
We also want to ensure it's easy to explore planning applications to encourage positive and beneficial developments, whether that's for existing businesses looking to expand or new investors who want to set up in the resort.
We can't and won't bend the rules and businesses will still have to go through all the relevant processes to ensure fairness but we want to make sure we can put them in the very best position to do so.
For more information please email southportrecoveryteam@sefton.gov.uk
How do I choose and access psychological therapy for my problem?
When choosing psychological therapy (often referred to as talking therapy) for an emotional, mental health or personal problem it is important that the therapy you choose is one that has been shown to be effective in treating the problem you are experiencing.
These therapies are known as “evidence-based talking therapies” which means they have been tested through scientific research and shown to be effective in treating a certain issue or problem.
The best way to access evidence-based talking therapies in England is via the NHS. Your GP can usually direct you to a local NHS service that only provides those treatments that have been shown to work and only uses therapists who have the required qualifications to provide those therapies. These services are called “NHS Talking Therapies Services”. You can also refer yourself directly to these services, you can find out the contact details of your local service on this weblink Find an NHS talking therapies service - NHS
What if I do not want to get my therapy from the NHS?
Sometimes people may choose not to access the support they need via the NHS (for various reasons) and choose to access privately funded talking therapies. If this is the case, it is very important that people choose talking therapists who are properly qualified and are only providing therapies that are evidence based
However, it is often difficult for a person to know exactly what their main problem is or what the evidence-based talking therapies are for the condition or problem they have.
In that situation it is probably best to consult with a “Clinical Psychologist”. A Clinical Psychologist will be able to carry out a full assessment of a person’s difficulties and suggest treatment options for their particular difficulty. The Clinical Psychologist may then be able to provide that treatment themselves or may direct the person to an appropriate therapist.
The Clinical Psychologist will also be able to give you information on what the different types of therapies look like and how they will work.
The safest and best way to find a Clinical Psychologist is through the British Psychological Society (BPS) which is the organisation that oversees Psychologists in the UK. The BPS has a searchable database of fully qualified and checked clinical psychologists on this weblink Find a psychologist
If you have already found a Psychologist, you can check whether they have the appropriate qualifications and registrations on this weblink Check a psychologist (choosing the option “Practitioner Psychologist”)
What are the best therapies for emotional problems?
As outlined above there are a range of evidence based talking therapies that have been shown to be effective for a range of problems.
CBT
The type of talking therapy that has the most evidence of effectiveness is “Cognitive Behaviour Therapy” (CBT). This therapy is effective in treating a range of problems including anxiety, panic, worry, phobias, obsessive problems and post traumatic stress disorder as well as low mood and depression.
The safest and best way to find a CBT therapist is through the British Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Psychotherapists (BABCP) which is the organisation that oversees CBT Therapists in the UK.
The BABCP has a searchable database of fully qualified and checked CBT Therapists on this weblink Find a CBT Therapist.
You can use this link to find a CBT therapist by choosing “Find a CBT Therapist” or to check whether a CBT therapist is fully qualified and checked by choosing “check the register”.
EMDR
A type of therapy that has been shown to be effective for Post Traumatic Stress disorder is one called Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Again, it is important that the EMDR therapist you choose has the right qualifications to do this therapy. The safest and best way to find an EMDR therapist is to use the following link which is a register that is held of qualified EMDR Therapists in the UK. Find an EMDR Therapist
Counselling
Some people prefer a type of talking therapy called counselling. There is much less evidence that this is effective for issues like anxiety and trauma but some people find it helpful for some types of depression or when they are struggling to cope with certain life events.
A useful place to find out more about counselling is the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). You can use this link to find a counsellor and use the following links to check if a counsellor is fully qualified and checked check my counsellor1 or check my counsellor2