Hidden Heroes of Southport: Undying Community Spirit in the Wake of Tragedy. Video
From the Prime Minister's office...
The attacks that took place in Southport and the violent unrest that has followed across the country has been devastating for the local community.
But people in Southport quickly came together to stand up for their town and offer practical support – many of them on the ground within hours.
We spoke to three community heroes, who shared why they felt compelled to help, and shone a light on the importance of coming together in the face of adversity.
Marc, a community leader who helped cleanup after the riots and led Southport Hesketh Round Table’s efforts to raise £40,000.
“I am so proud to live in Southport.
Ever since I moved here in 2012, it has always been a safe and accepting place for people of all races, nationalities and faiths to live. We see people for who they are, not their cultures, and I have always seen a vast respect for everyone.
Southport has been a sleepy seaside town - a peaceful and friendly place to live.
That’s why the tragic events of last week, and the devastating riots that have followed, are still so surreal. It almost feels like a movie.
If I had just seen it on the news - if I hadn’t had to help rebuild my local Mosque, seen my local shop looted and seen a woman crying because of the destruction on her street - I wouldn’t have believed it.
On the morning of the attacks, I was working from home, and I heard sirens and helicopters. My neighbour called me over and said there had been an incident at a nearby nursery.
As more information came out, I knew this was something awful. We found out that some of our friends with kids our age had attended a nursery event that day. I prayed it wasn’t the same place.
But when I called one of my friends, he told me his daughter had been there and had been injured. My wife and I just burst into floods of tears – it has been very difficult to understand and come to terms with.
As soon as we found out, we knew these families would need immediate support and that we needed to do something to help. As part of Southport Hesketh Round Table, we set up an online fundraiser on Monday evening with the target of £20,000, which we exceeded.
On Wednesday morning, I saw the devastation that took place in our town because of the riots. I was going to the gym and couldn’t get through the blocked roads, when I saw a man sweeping up mess and rolled down my window.
‘You’ve got to do what you can for your community,’ he said.
It hit a heartstring with me. I turned around, went home, picked up a shovel and a broom and came back to help. It was around 7am then, but within an hour and a half there were easily 300 people all helping out.
There were local businesses, cleaning up, all with big mechanic diggers, sweepers, shovels and everything. Everybody was really getting their hands dirty. It was great to be part of that. It really was a healing experience for me.
Southport is a loving community. We stand up for each other. And we have come together to show the people we are. We’ve got the streets back to normal again, but these three angels who lost their lives will always be in everyone’s hearts and minds.
We’ll never forget. And those people will never forget. And every single time one of these riots takes place, and they blame the atrocity of what happened, they are misrepresenting our community. That’s not Southport. That’s not what we stand for.”
Leanne, a local business owner who offered cake and ice cream to those helping with the cleanup efforts.
“Southport was a lovely area to grow up in. We’ve never experienced anything as devastating as this, and I find it quite difficult to put into words what’s happened.
On the day it happened I’d just come back from my holiday and could hear loads of sirens from my living room. I’d never heard sirens like that before here, so I could tell something major was going on.
You can’t put into words how devastating it is for everyone involved.
When we heard about what had happened on Monday evening, we knew we had to do anything we could to try and bring a little smile to people’s faces, and so decided to offer free cake and ice cream from our shops to everyone helping with the cleanup efforts.
Though it’s only a small part of it, people seemed grateful.
A lot of people have tried to help in any way they can, and it’s been good seeing everyone coming together and trying to stand for what is right by cleaning the streets, giving away stuff and making donations.
What happened over the country has taken away from what is important, which is those three little girls. That is the heartbreaking thing.
But I want people to know that we’re a strong community, and we have shown that though how we all came together.”
Brian, who works for Dowhigh Civil Engineering, was on the scene at around 3am after the riots in Southport, clearing up to get roads back open.
“When we arrived to help with the cleanup it looked like a war zone.
We got there at around 3am and there were already hundreds of people from the local area who came out with brushes and pans and helped everybody, from the milkmen to local residents, they all were out from half past four onwards helping. It was unbelievable.
Shop owners brought cups of tea out, and water for everybody, which was great.
It had been such a sombre moment, watching it on the TV the night before, so it was quite refreshing to see everyone rallying around the community and saying: ‘Let’s get it back to normal.’
In terms of local people, they just need support to get back on track. It’ll take always time for this to disappear.
It will affect the local area. It’s the middle of the summer, and obviously there’s businesses who want to thrive during the summer months, with it being a seaside town.
It’s a sad fact that it won’t be the same this summer.
What those people did was wrong, wasn’t it? It’s not what these poor people in Southport wanted.
They didn’t think about the poor people here were suffering just to give them some space and time.”