Heroes of Southport to be honoured at awards

Volunteers helped clean up Southport following violent disorder this summer

An annual event honouring community heroes will recognise everyone who helped in the wake of this summer's Southport knife attacks.

People who rushed to the aid of the injured, as well as those who helped bring the community together in the days that followed, will be the focus of next year's Pride of Sefton Awards.

Organiser Andrew Brown said all money raised from the Sefton-wide event would go to a charity supporting the bereaved.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Olivia da Silva Aguira died from stab wounds after they were attacked at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July.

Volunteers helped to care for thousands of flowers and teddy bears left outside the Atkinson in Southport

Police, fire crews, paramedics and members of the public all rushed to help after the attack at the Hart Space studio in Hart Street.

In the days following the attack, volunteers came out to repair damage caused by rioters and tend to the thousands of bunches of flowers that had been left at makeshift memorials around the town.

Mr Brown said while the awards covered the whole of Sefton, the heroes of Southport deserved special praise.

He said: "There needs to be recognition of how the community has pulled together, of the kindness people showed, and this is an opportunity to thank those unsung heroes - the people who have cleaned up, or looked after the flowers, the people who were first on the scene."

Andrew Mikhail, whose Mikhail Hotel and Leisure company is organising the awards along with Stand Up For Southport, said he had "mixed emotions" ahead of next year's event.

"Our hearts were broken when we all saw what happened when those three young girls were killed and so many other children and adults were so badly injured, including some of those who rushed to help.

“How the community responded since then to that tragedy, and to the rioting that followed, has been magnificent."

The Pride of Sefton Awards will take place at the Grand Hotel in Lord Street, Sefton, on 25 April.