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Sefton residents turned out in force to enjoy a Christmas market with a difference in Southport at the weekend.

The event at the New Leaf garden centre on Rotten Row featured festive goods created by clients of the borough’s leading adult social care provider, New Directions. They include people with support needs due to disability, age or mental health conditions.

Organisers say there was a lot of interest in the seasonal items on offer, all produced by service users at New Leaf and the New Directions North Hub on Mornington Road in Southport town centre.

Gift ideas ranged from wooden tea light holders, twig trees and table decorations to slate signs and bughouses.

Unusual handcrafted items included wooden angels, snowmen and soldiers, and even hand-knitted Christmas tree decorations.

Meanwhile, customers were also able to choose from a range of yuletide plants, flower arrangements, wreaths and grave pots, all prepared by the green-fingered team at New Leaf.

Refreshments and a raffle were also on offer at the market, which was organised by the same team that helped the New Directions show garden to win a gold medal at this summer’s Southport Flower Show.

New Directions Business Development Manager, Dave Hughes, commented:

“Everyone at New Leaf worked very hard to prepare for the Christmas market, so we are all delighted that it has proved to be such a success again this year.

“Customers were very complimentary about the range and quality of the goods on sale.

“And as well as having the chance to choose from the wide variety of unusual festive items on offer, they have the satisfaction of knowing that the money they spent will be ploughed back into providing more resources and opportunities for our clients,” added Mr Hughes.

The official Southport Christmas Market on Chapel Street continues to run until December 17.

A South Sefton organisation is playing a key role in a major European project which aims to support people with innovative new ideas to solve social problems.

Bootle-based Regenerus is working with partners in Portugal, Denmark, Italy, Germany and Latvia on the Tomorrow’s Land project, which is funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.

The objective of Tomorrow’s Land is to help so-called social innovators, people with the ability to develop new products or services, or new ways of working, to achieve positive social change and ultimately a more inclusive society.

The focus of these new ways of working is on collaboration, and creating solutions that are more effective, efficient, sustainable or just than previous approaches.

In addition, when value is created, the aim is that is should benefit a community or society as a whole, rather than simply generating profits for owners or shareholders.

Partners in the Tomorrow’s Land project recently produced a strategic report identifying the key elements of the initiative, which was unveiled at an event at Regenerus’s Investment Centre HQ in Bootle town centre.

Key priorities identified in the report include the development of online resources offering new creative learning approaches to social innovation, and guidance to support educators and trainers who are working with future social innovators.

The Tomorrow’s Land project will also stage a major international social innovation conference on Merseyside at the end of next year.

Ruth Livesey of Regenerus commented:

“We’re delighted to be working with our European partners on Tomorrow’s Land because it’s such an exciting project.

“It’s all about creative thinking and encouraging connectivity, so that pioneer social innovators can get their new projects off the ground, and so contribute to a more innovative and inclusive – and ultimately better – economy and society.”