England star Alex Greenwood will become the first ever woman to be awarded the Freedom of Sefton.
The Bootle-born Lioness, who captured the nation’s hearts in the summer of 2022 by helping to secure the UEFA Women’s Euros Championship, will become the first woman to be given the illustrious Freedom of the Borough civic honour.
Alex will join fellow Bootle footballer Jamie Carragher and famous horse trainer Donald ‘Ginger’ McCain as the only three individuals on Sefton’s Honorary Freedom Scroll, which officially confirms her status as Freewoman of the Borough.
Being bestowed the Freedom of the Borough is the highest honour Sefton Council can give to an individual and is only ever considered in exceptional circumstances.
At a meeting of Full Council (Thursday, November 17) councillors voted to award Alex with Freedom status.
It follows Sefton Council conferring Honorary Freedom of the Borough status on Alder Hey Childrenâs NHS Foundation Trust, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Southport & Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “Alex is a fantastic role model for young people in Sefton and has long been a major influence in the advancement of women and girlsâ football within our borough.
“Despite still being at the top of her game and competing in the Women’s Super League, Alex regularly takes time to motivate and inspire future generations of sporting stars throughout our communities.”
Cllr Ian Moncur, Sefton Councilâs Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing, said: ââI want to take this opportunity to urge all our young sporting stars to take a look at Alexâs hard work and dedication to getting where she is today as one of the worldâs best female footballers.
âHer progress is a testament to the excellent school and sports facilities we have within Sefton.â
A ceremony to present Alex with her Freedom of the Borough honour is expected to take place in 2023.
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Essential Sefton
Pupils put their best foot forward in walk to school challenge
Children across Sefton have been putting their best foot forward by making an incredible 15,500 âcar freeâ journeys to and from school.
Primary school pupils across the Borough were challenged to use the recent Autumn term to walk more to and from school as part of the national WOW Walk To School Challenge.
The month-long challenge was hosted by the Living Streets Charity, which was set up to encourage more active and healthy forms of travel across communities.
Teachers recorded that pupils across primary schools in Sefton completed an impressive 15,580 journeys to and from school without using a car in October.
These journeys were completed by walking or âwheelingâ to school on a bike or scooter.
Pupils at Forefield Community Infant and Nursery School topped the table for the highest number of individual journeys per school, closely followed by Christ Church CofE Primary and Springwell Park Primary.
Cllr Diane Roscoe, Sefton Councilâs Cabinet Member for Education, said: âNearly 800 pupils a day throughout October walking, cycling and scooting their way to school is a fantastic achievement.
âI want to thank all of our schools that took part in the challenge. By encouraging our youngest generations to discover the unlimited benefits of active travel and ending a reliance on the car is ultimately going to have a greater impact on our communitiesâ future health and wellbeing.
âActive Travel schemes are vital, not only for our health and wellbeing, but also for contributing massively to combatting the effects of climate change.
“We will continue to work with schools, parents and our communities to make journeys to school easier, safer and more enjoyableâ
For more information about the Living Streets Walk to School challenge and more visit www.livingstreets.org.uk
Services of Remembrance to be held across Sefton
Sefton will once again fall silent to remember those who died in conflict, with a number of Remembrance Day services taking place across the borough this coming weekend.
The 2022 Remembrance Day events, held on Sunday November 13, will see the Mayor of Sefton, Councillors and other Sefton Council representatives join veterans, Armed Forces personnel, community leaders and members of the community in paying their respects.
Residents are fully encouraged to attend any of the eleven services which will be held around the borough from 10:30am onwards, however all attendees are asked to be respectful of others during the service.
Aintree: Sefton Parish Church, Sefton Village, L29 (10.30am)
Ainsdale: Village Green War Memorial (10:30am)
Bootle: Kingâs Gardenâs War Memorial, Stanley Road (10.25am)
Crosby: Alexandra Park War Memorial Garden, Coronation Road (10:45am)
Formby: Holy Trinity Church, Rosemary Lane (2.50pm)
Hightown: St Stephenâs Road War Memorial (10:35am)
Ince Blundell: Lady Green Lane War Memorial (12:05pm)
Litherland: Sefton Road War Memorial (10:30am)
Maghull: St Andrewâs Church, Damfield Lane (9.50am)
Southport: Lord Street War Memorial (10:25am)
Waterloo: Five Lamps War Memorial, Gt Georgeâs Road (10:30am)
Anyone displaying signs and symptoms of COVID-19 are kindly asked to take a lateral flow test to ensure they are negative before attending.
The Mayor of Sefton, Cllr Clare Carragher, will attend a morning service at the Southport Cenotaph on Lord Street from 10.30am.
Other services are to be held in Aintree, Ainsdale, Crosby, Hightown, Ince Blundell, Litherland, Maghull, Bootle and Waterloo.
As with previous years members of the public are asked to arrive at a service in plenty of time. This is due to the high volume of residents expected to turn out to pay their respects.
Mayor of Sefton, Cllr Clare Carragher, said:
“Every year thousands of people from all walks of life join together publicly to pay our respects to our heroes.
“Remembrance Day Services are a time when we reflect and give thanks to all those brave souls past and present who have given their lives for our freedoms, while honouring serving members of the Armed Forces in recognition of their continued selflessness.
âIt is vitally important that we pay our respects and many of my colleagues and representatives of Sefton will be attending other services around the borough throughout the day.â
Green-fingered community group are bloomin’ successful thanks to Sefton
A green-fingered community group from Maghull is blossoming after winning a top environment award.
The Friends of Maghull & District CIC group, which have gone from strength to strength thanks to the support of Sefton Councilâs specialist crowdfunding project, have recently won the BBC Radio Merseyside âMake A Differenceâ Environment Award.
Dedication and tireless efforts
Out of hundreds of nominees, the hard working community group behind the Stafford Moreton Way and Woodend projects, were chosen for their dedication and tireless efforts which have transformed large parts of their community.
The Friends of Maghull & District CIC (FOMD) group are one of the flagship successes of the Sefton Crowd campaign â a specialist crowdfunding platform from Sefton Council which aims to support groups who want to make positive changes within the areas they live.
Thanks to Sefton Crowd and generous backers, FOMD CIC have raised an astonishing ÂŁ36,500 towards environmental projects in Maghull. ÂŁ30,000 was raised towards creating a safe woodland style greenspace called Bobbyâs Wood, while a further ÂŁ6,500 was raised to transform Stafford Moreton Way into an eco-educational area for future generations.
Kind-hearted people
Dr Frank Sharp (FOMD CIC Director) said: âWe want this award to be for the countless amazingly kind-hearted people in our community that have contributed at every level, to make a difference to our environment.
âIn addition, we would like to thank Sefton Councilâs Sefton Crowd platform which has provided us with an invaluable support system to raise funds for the last two projects.â
Working in partnership with Spacehive, the UKâs leading civic crowdfunding platform, Sefton Crowd is an initiative that gives residents with an idea to improve their community the opportunity to gain funding via Spacehiveâs crowdfunding platform.
Incredible schemes and ideas
Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “Through the Sefton Crowd we have already seen some incredible schemes and ideas brought to fruition.
âThis award for the FOMD group is very much deserved and we are delighted that we have been able to support their tireless efforts through our platform.
âWe continue to search for and support projects that answer our call for ideas which benefit local people and communities.
âIâm also calling on companies and foundations to join us in offering support – whether funding or in-kind – to the ideas people post on the platform so we can work together to make them a real success. The more people that get involved in Sefton Crowd the more amazing places we can create together.”
Supporting a project can cost as little at ÂŁ2 and funding may also be available via Sefton Council’s Community Transition Fund.
You can find out about opportunities to back a project or to create your own here.
Southport Market review lauds tireless efforts of traders and staff
Southport Market is going from strength to strength after being buoyed by the growing âstaycationâ holiday market.
Since reopening in July 2021, the hugely popular food and drink hall in Southport town centre has already served over a quarter of a million meals and 100,000 pints to tens of thousands of visitors.
It has also directly led to a transformation of the surrounding area with a number of new shops and businesses opening up due to increased footfall.
Performance
In a report to Sefton Councilâs Overview and Scrutiny Committeeâs November 8th meeting, a One Year Review of Southport Market shows that the venue has continued to perform very well despite industry-wide challenges.
Tireless work by the traders and Sefton Council staff since the opening are among the factors the report says are behind the marketâs success. The support of the local community to the unique investment, which provides a new reason to visit this part of town, has also been important.
Growth
Southport marketâs success is expected to grow even more in 2023 with significant changes to the public realm space around Market Street and King Street, which are designed to increase footfall in the area.
Cllr Marion Atkinson, Sefton Councilâs Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, said:
âWhen it was first launched I made a promise that the new look Southport Market would be a great success and a year in, despite the effects of a worldwide pandemic and the hard-hitting cost of living crisis, we are already seeing the fruits of our labour come good.
âThis is in no small part down to the work and creativity of our traders who have come together with their culinary skills to produce an international smorgasbord of tasty treats.
âTheir own successes have been bolstered by an incredible events calendar put together by Sefton Councilâs Tourism team who have transformed our flexible events space time and time again for a series of amazing shows, conventions and fayres.”
One of the key objectives of investing into the new Southport Market was for it to be a catalyst for further investment in the area and Sefton.
Cllr Marion Atkinson continued:
âMost traders in the market are from the local area and have either established new businesses or expanded current businesses, creating over 30 new jobs. The increased footfall has led to several long-term vacant units have become occupied by new independent businesses in both Market and King Street.
âThis continued investment is showing no signs of slowing down and a number of large vacant units within the wider Market Quarter are now currently on the market and contracts are being exchanging at a rate.
âLocal commercial agents have told us the area is one of the top investment locations in Southport currently and we firmly believe this is down to the success of the Market.â
Challenges
The report also looks at future challenges faced across the hospitality industry, which Cllr Atkinson says will be monitored closely by Sefton Council as it continues to grow the Market space.
Cllr Atkinson added:
âA rise and fall in the popularity of staycations will have an effect on footfall, as does the ever increasing cost of goods and services as we all feel the impact of a cost of living crisis.
âWhile some of these pressures cannot be fully mitigated against, we have put in place and will continue to develop a series of measures to encourage footfall in the area, ensuring that the Market remains a focal attraction for many years to come.â
People can find more information about Southport Market at www.southportmarket.com, follow southportmarket on Instagram, @spt_mkt on Twitter or Southport Market on Facebook.
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