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Business and Economy

Almost £2 million of payments issued to 650 Sefton businesses from latest rounds of COVID-19 funding

21 March 2022
Martin Driver
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Categories: Business and Economy, Front Page, Latest News, Uncategorized

Sefton Council’s Business Grants and Business Rates teams have now issued approaching £2 million to over 500 local companies from grant funding schemes announced by the Government in January and February.

Over £1.6 million

Over £1.6 million of Omicron Hospitality & Leisure Grants have been paid to almost 500 companies across the Borough with the few final payments due to be paid by the end of March.

Additionally, more than 150 of Sefton small and micro businesses in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors have received nearly £340,000 from the third round of the Additional Relief Grant scheme.

Sefton Council has paid out over £100 million of grant funding to the Borough’s businesses during the pandemic.

Huge efforts

Cllr Marion Atkinson, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, said: “Over the past two years Sefton’s businesses of all sizes and sectors have faced major challenges and made sacrifices to protect their employees and customers from COVID-19.

“Thanks to the huge efforts of our officers, we have been able to help thousands of those businesses with payments to help them survive and recover from the pandemic.

“I would like to thank our officers who have made this possible but also the Borough’s businesses who have worked with us while we have carried out the stringent processes and checks when administering this financial support.”

Proud

Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regulatory Compliance and Corporate Services said:  “This has been an unprecedented time and we have all had to adapt quickly to working and operating within restrictions designed to keep us safe, while at the same time supporting those who are most vulnerable.

“I am proud that Sefton Council has been able to provide this financial support, as well as practical support, such as PPE and testing vital infrastructure and would like to add my thanks to everyone involved.”

Find out more about how Sefton Council supports business and investment. 

Let there be light! Iconic buildings across Sefton to be lit up in dazzling light projection

18 March 2022
Ollie Cowan
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Categories: Borough Of Culture, Business and Economy, Essential Sefton, Featured Friendship News, Front Page, Latest News

Southport and Bootle will play host to a spectacular light show capturing the history of the Sefton next week.

The Nightingale’s Song Reawakened is a triumphant series of video projection artworks taking place across Bootle and Southport, created with Illuminos, Guildhall Live Events, Lightworks, and artist Amelia Kosminsky.

The event will be free and will be hosted at:

Southport Market
Friday 25th 10am – 10pm
Saturday 26th 10am – 10pm
Sunday 27th 10am – 8pm
Wednesday 30th 5:30pm – 9pm
Thursday 31st 5:30pm – 9pm
Friday April 1st 10am – 10pm
Saturday April 2nd 5:30pm – 10pm
Sunday April 3rd 10am – 8pm

Bootle Canalside 
Saturday March 26th 8pm – 10pm

Accessed via Washington Parade/Stanley Road

The Atkinson, Southport 
Sunday March 27th (shows at 8.30pm and 9pm)

Food and drink will be available at Southport Market and Bootle Canalside throughout the shows.

March 2020 saw three iconic buildings lit up in celebratory stories, as part of Sefton Borough of Culture. Two years on the Nightingale’s Song is to be retold in a new and mesmerising collaboration.

The Nightingale’s Song is a tale of magic and wonder, of myths and wondrous creatures, spectacular nature, of ships and sailing, of peoples past and present and captures the history of Sefton.

The projections are anchored through following the journey of the Natterjack Toad – the endangered amphibian who lives in the Sefton dunes. Known as the Birkdale Nightingale because of its extraordinary night time song, it becomes the character we follow, symbolising the growth and transition through ever changing stages of egg, tadpole, and toad.

For this year’s spectacle, projection artists Illuminos have joined forces with Guildhall Live Events, Lightworks, and artist Amelia Kosminsky to create three distinct pieces, all thematically linked through the Song of the Nightingale.

The Echo begins the events at Southport Market.  In this unique video installation echoes of images morph and flow across screens, and visitors through their movements in the space trigger visual moments that interact and cause ripples across the artwork.  A toad hops, a biplane soars, waves roll in and seasons change.  By changing their positions and working together, visitors can uncover the many secrets and echoes of Sefton’s past and present.

The Whisper takes place at Bootle Canalside event space.  Here emerging artist Amelia Kosminsky transforms the surfaces of the buildings into vast dreamlike canvases of video art.  Making extensive use of archive images, newspaper cuttings, landscapes and histories of Bootle, audiences are invited to soak up a visual journey from land through canal and waterway to rolling sea.

The Song completes the events at the Atkinson Building, Southport.  In a vast and dramatic finale, the architecture of the Atkinson is transformed to tell the story of Sefton through egg, tadpole and toad as storms rage, arcades whirr, vikings rise, railways build, and the Birkdale Nightingale sings, in a celebration of Sefton and its coastline.

 

Sefton Council welcome food and drink outlets return to coast this summer

17 March 2022
Amy Hitchmough
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Categories: Business and Economy, Front Page, Green Sefton, Latest News

Sefton Council has launched a tender process to continue its coastal offering of food and drink at Ainsdale beach and Crosby coastal park after successful trials through the summers of 2020 and 2021.

In recent years the Council has received huge numbers of visitors flocking to the coast. With the goal of continually enhancing visitors’ experiences, the Council seeks to expand the coastal concessions from summer trials into longer term arrangements.

Ainsdale beach food and drink concession trial, B-Eat On The Street, manager Alex with Cllr Ian Moncur and Green Sefton staff earlier this summer
Cllr Moncur with Green Sefton staff at Ainsdale beach food and drink concession trial during summer 2021.

Cllr Ian Moncur, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “We were overwhelmed with positive feedback from residents and visitors alike after previous trials and we are pleased to confirm the Council has gone to tender for more food and drink outlets for this summer.

“We feel that there is a market for good quality food and drink offering along our coast, while ensuring the scheme supports the Council’s Climate Change Agenda by offering vegetarian and vegan options and using biodegradable and recyclable cutlery and cups.

“Previous trials have proven how initiatives such as this help create jobs and offer a boost to the local economy as well as enhancing our visitor attractions, complementing our longer-term vision to get the right offer for everyone while protecting our special landscape.”

Tender packs can be obtained by emailing tourism@sefton.gov.uk

As part of the wider investment at Ainsdale, the implementation of a new ‘off beach’ car park at Ainsdale Beach is set to be operational by the end of 2022, subject to final planning approval.

Toilet facilities at Ainsdale-On-Sea are undergoing refurbishment work in March to prepare them for reopening from 1st April as the beach car park re-opens. The men’s, women’s and disabled people’s toilet facilities will be re-opened. 

Sefton Citizens 4 Good Scheme returns with nominations now open

17 March 2022
Ollie Cowan
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Categories: Bootle Strand, Borough Of Culture, Business and Economy, Essential Sefton, Front Page

Nominations are now being accepted for a major scheme that recognises Sefton residents who make a positive difference to life in their local communities.

Citizens 4 Good is a joint initiative from Sefton Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) and the Mayor of Sefton’s Office and recognises local people for good deeds, kindness and support that they provide to other members of the community.

This is the first round of nominations launched since the Coronavirus pandemic, which meant that the events were put on hold.

Anyone can make a nomination of someone they think deserves to be recognised.

People can nominate any Sefton resident who they think makes a difference the people around them. They may go that extra mile to be a great neighbour, help to organise a local community group, or something else that deserves recognition.

Mike Howlett, Senior Citizenship and Volunteering Officer for Sefton CVS, commented: “Since launching the scheme in 2017, Citizens 4 Good has recognised over 100 people for their kind acts and support for their local communities.

“Over the last two years, during the Coronavirus pandemic, we have heard so many examples of how community members have stepped up to help their neighbours. So I’m sure people won’t be short of local people to nominate.”

Shortlisted nominees will be invited to a celebration event where they will be presented with a certificate by the Mayor of Sefton, Cllr Clare Louise Carragher.

The deadline for nominations is Monday 4th April, with the celebration event taking place later that month at Bootle Town Hall .

To nominate a Citizen 4 Good go to www.sefton4good.org.uk/citizens.

For further information about Citizens 4 Good call 0151 920 0726 or email info@sefton4good.org.uk.

 

New council Tech Rooms will support refugees across Sefton

16 March 2022
Ollie Cowan
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Categories: Borough Of Culture, Business and Economy, Essential Sefton, Front Page, Latest News

Sefton Libraries team are set to install special technology rooms in Southport, Bootle and Crosby, designed to help refugees and isolated residents throughout the borough.

Funded via a grant Arts Council England, the brand new state of the art ‘Tech Rooms’ will be installed at The Atkinson Library, Bootle Library and Crosby Library, with its primary uses being to help refugees and asylum seekers access language courses, while also helping isolated residents connect digitally with distant family members.

Use of the Tech Rooms, which come fully equipped with top of the line audio and visual communication equipment, will also be available to small business owners and students from across the borough.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “We’re delighted that our bid for Arts Council funding for this project was successful and we can now begin creating these highly beneficial Tech Rooms.

“Primarily we envisage the rooms being of the most benefit to those residents who are ‘digitally isolated’ and need a way to reconnect with family and friends who are far away.

“We also will use the rooms to facilitate specialist language learning for refugees and asylum seekers so they can better integrate with their communities and study in a safe, high tech environment.

“There are also huge benefits for local businesses, small enterprises and home workers who will now have access to the highest quality digitally enabled workspaces.”

Darren Henley, Chief Executive Officer, Arts Council England, added: “Our artists, arts organisations, museums and libraries are experts in making villages, towns and cities better places to live, work, visit or play.

“This investment means they’ll be able to help more people across England to lead happier, more creative lives.”

Sefton Libraries were successful in securing a Libraries Improvement Fund grant of £68,000 for the project from Arts Council England. Work to create the rooms will begin from April.

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