Support in Southport
The events in Southport were truly shocking and community will need support in the weeks and months to come. Please find details of support across a range of different topics below.
Victim Support Merseyside
Victim Care Merseyside is the Police and Crime Commissioner’s dedicated service providing free, confidential support for all victims of crime living in Merseyside.
The service consists of a hub of specially trained staff acting as a single point of contact for all victims and survivors offering access to free, confidential advice and support.
Stop Hate UK
Stop Hate UK are a national organisation supporting people who have witnessed or are affected by hate crime. If you are witnessing a crime taking place, you should report it to the police. Young people can use Stop Hate UK’s Call Hate Out service, which offers advice for people under 18.
Bereavement
The Child Death Helpline run jointly by Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and
Great Ormand Street Hospital.
For anyone effected by the death of a child of any age 0808 800 6019
The Alder Centre which provides bereavement care for parents and families at Alder
Hey 0151 252 5391
Winston’s Wish: The Charity for Bereaved Children
08452 030 405 or www.winstonswish.org.uk
Sefton in Mind
If you have been affected – directly or indirectly - by the tragic events in Southport, you can find a range of support at www.seftoninmind.org.uk.
The Sefton In Mind pages on mental health support provide information on how to access to a wide range of services in Sefton, including Crisis Support, Specialist Services including bereavement, Support for Men, Support for Women and Someone to Speak to.
Use this link to visit Sefton in Mind.
Talking Therapies
Psychological treatments, sometimes called talking therapy are available to help people with common mental health problems such as feeling stressed, feeling low in mood (depressed) or very nervous (anxiety).
Referrals to NHS Talking Therapies is different in each area.
In Sefton, you can contact Mental Health Matters.
You can use the links below to find support if you live in these areas:
If you live outside of these areas, you can visit www.nhs.uk/talk.
SHOUT crisis service
If you feel you may feel as though you don't want to talk to someone you know or in person right now, and that's ok - just text SHOUT on 85258
SHOUT can give you free, confidential, anonymous support, 24/7.
Young People
Kooth
Kooth is an online chat-based mental health support service for young people between the ages of 10 and 25.
They offer free, safe and anonymous support through 1-to-1 chats with mental health professionals and via moderated forums and articles.
Kooth is available 24/7 with the 1 to 1 chat feature operating between the hours of 12noon and 10pm on weekdays and from 6pm to 10pm during weekends.
You can find more about Kooth here.
Alder Hey Crisis Care Service
Alder Hey Crisis Care Service offers 24-hour support to children and young people who are in mental health crisis.
If you or someone you care for in Sefton or Liverpool is under 18 and having a mental health crisis call:
- CAMHS Crisis Care Line: 0151 293 3577
- Freephone CAMHS Crisis Care Line number: 0808 196 35
ChatHealth
ChatHealth is a confidential service that provides health and wellbeing advice via text message.
Young people aged 11-19 years can gain advice on health and wellbeing from a School Nurse via a text messaging service ChatHealth. You can remain anonymous if they wish.
The number for ChatHealth Sefton is 07312 263291.
Information about what happens after a distressing or frightening event:
For the first few weeks after experiencing a distressing, frightening or traumatic event, it is normal to notice a range of reactions.
Early stages
In the early stages following such an event, psychological professional help is not usually necessary. In fact it can be unhelpful to act too soon.
A normal range of emotions might include:
- Emotional reactions such as feeling afraid, sad, tearful, horrified, helpless, overwhelmed, angry, confused, numb or disorientated
- Having distressing thoughts and images of the incident
- Nightmares, disturbed sleep or insomnia
- Feeling anxious
- Low mood
- Fatigue
- Feeling ‘jumpy’ or on edge.
These reactions are part of a natural process of making sense of events after something difficult has happened. Not everyone experiences this, but many people do.
What to do
The most important things to do during the first days and weeks afterwards are to look after yourself, and each other.
This should start with meeting your basic needs:
- eat and hydrate.
- sleep and rest.
- avoid drugs and alcohol.
- be kind to yourself - take pressure off yourself in whatever way you can
- try to do normal things with other people.
- get support from those you trust and would usually go to for support.
- talk about the incident if you feel you would like to, but if it doesn’t feel like the right time yet, don’t force yourself.
Where can I go to talk about this in the early stages?
If it has been less than four weeks since the incident, it might be most helpful to talk things through with trusted family, friends or work colleagues. Talk as much or as little as you feel comfortable with.
If you would prefer to talk to someone separate, a listening service might be helpful.
You can call Samaritans free any time, from any phone, on 116 123.
When should I seek more help?
Most people will notice the effects of the event gradually returning to normal over the following weeks. Experiencing waves of emotion for a little while is normal.
It is recommended that you week professional support (for example speak to your GP, consider a self referral to NHS Talking Therapies) if one month after the event you are still experiencing the following difficulties:
- Feeling upset and fearful.
- Finding it difficult to stop thinking about the incident.
- Having nightmares.
- Feeling more irritable.
- Feeling more jumpy.
- Struggling to work or look after your home and family.
- Starting to have relationship difficulties.
- Using drugs or drinking alcohol more than usual.
- Acting very differently to before the trauma.
- Struggling to enjoy life.
- Feeling emotionally numb.
If at any time you are feeling unable to keep yourself safe, please contact crisis services on one of the numbers below:
- 0800 145 6570 (Sefton and Liverpool)
- 0800 051 1508(Halton, Knowsley, St Helens or Warrington)
- call NHS111 by dialling 111 and selecting option 2 to speak to a dedicated member of the mental health team.
You can use this link to find the NHS leaflet on Coping with stress following
a major incident.
Family Hubs
Linaker Street Family Hub will be open between 10am and 2pm on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th August for members of the community to get support.
Whether that be to gather together, have a brew or find support, please come and see our teams. We have mental health and talking therapy teams on site for anyone who may need them.
The Linaker Street Family Wellbeing Centre is at Linaker Street, Southport, PR8 5DQ.
CVS Support for Southport
Information on the latest VCF sector support and resources for communities affected by the tragic events in Southport can be found here on the Sefton CVS website.
Sefton CVS will be updating the information as the VCF sector responds to provide help and support to all those affected at this difficult time.
ChatHealth
ChatHealth is a confidential service that provides health and wellbeing advice via text message.
Young people aged 11-19 years can gain advice on health and wellbeing from a School Nurse via a text messaging service ChatHealth. You can remain anonymous if you wish.
The number for ChatHealth Sefton is 07312 263291.
Kooth
Kooth is an online chat-based mental health support service for young people between the ages of 10 and 25.
They offer free, safe and anonymous support through 1-to-1 chats with mental health professionals and via moderated forums and articles.
Kooth is available 24/7 with the 1 to 1 chat feature operating between the hours of 12noon and 10pm on weekdays and from 6pm to 10pm during weekends.
You can find more about Kooth here.
Alder Hey Crisis Care Service
Alder Hey Crisis Care Service offers 24-hour support to children and young people who are in mental health crisis.
If you or someone you care for in Sefton or Liverpool is under 18 and having a mental health crisis call:
- CAMHS Crisis Care Line: 0151 293 3577
- Freephone CAMHS Crisis Care Line number: 0808 196 35
Leaflets on trauma after an incident
Below are links to leaflets that can help parents and children affected.
Family Hubs
Linaker Family Hub is offering specialist support with its mental health and talking
therapy teams who will be on site.
Linaker Family Hub, 103 Linaker Street, Southport, PR8 5DQ
Our Family Hub network across Sefton provides a range of different services and are
open for people to find advice and support across a range of issues.
Educational Psychology Service
Sefton’s Educational Psychology Service is available to support schools and settings
directly affected. Contact Ez Mills, Principal Educational Psychologist
ez.mills@sefton.gov.uk
The team have provided guidance on how to navigate difficult conversations with
children around fear, trauma and anxiety and have also provided a script to help you
have these conversations.
Psychological and Mental Health Support
Sefton In Mind
If you have been affected – directly or indirectly - by the tragic events in Southport, you can find a range of support at www.seftoninmind.org.uk
The Sefton In Mind pages on mental health support provide information on how to
access to a wide range of services in Sefton, including Crisis Support, Specialist Services including bereavement, Support for Men, Support for Women and Someone to Speak to.
Kooth
Kooth is an online chat-based mental health support service for young people between the ages of 10 and 25.
They offer free, safe and anonymous support through 1-to-1 chats with mental health professionals and via moderated forums and articles.
Kooth is available 24/7 with the 1 to 1 chat feature operating between the hours of 12noon and 10pm on weekdays and from 6pm to 10pm during weekends.
You can find more about Kooth here.
Bereavement
The Child Death Helpline run jointly by Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and
Great Ormand Street Hospital.
For anyone effected by the death of a child of any age 0808 800 6019
The Alder Centre which provides bereavement care for parents and families at Alder
Hey 0151 252 5391
Winston’s Wish: The Charity for Bereaved Children
08452 030 405 or www.winstonswish.org.uk
Sefton CVS Support
Sefton CVS have put together a list of support agencies in Southport as well as details of the Southport Stronger Together fundraiser.
Support for Education Professionals
Education Support Partnership (a UK charity dedicated to improving the health and
wellbeing of teachers and the entire education workforce)
www.educationsupportpartnership.org.uk or 08000 562 561
Community Reassurance
We understand people may be concerned about attending community events and
groups for children. We want to offer reassurance to the community and give you the
resources and confidence to ensure these activities can go ahead in a safe manner.
We believe that it is safe for holiday activities, children’s groups, etc to run as planned
over the summer break. We want children to feel like they can have a fabulous, exciting time this summer and for them to make memories that they will treasure.
We have seen significant amounts of misinformation online and we must reiterate that
this type of tragic incident is extremely rare and our community have pulled together
with love and care. However, we understand that families and children may have
anxieties and worries for some time to come. This has been a traumatic incident in our
town and we know everyone will process that trauma in a different way and at different
times.
We would advise all groups to review their risk assessments and where possible ensure
everyone is signed in and out of site and do everything they can to reduce risk.
If children or families are worried about attending events, we have provided resources
from our Educational Psychology team around explaining and dealing with trauma or
frightening situations with children.
| How To Talk To Children About Southport’S Tragic Incident (1) |  (pdf 285KB) |
| Sefton Support For Schools And Settings (1) | (pdf 211KB) |
| Supporting Children After A Frightening Event | (pdf 225KB) |
| Guidance From Educational Psychology Team | (pdf 184KB) |
| Children's Guide To Managing Trauma | (pdf 5.36MB) |
| Supporting Child And Young People After Major Trauma | (pdf 317KB) |
Any businesses affected by the incident in Southport and requiring advice can contact InvestSefton - the council’s business support team - on 0151 934 3452 (Option 2) or by emailing investsefton@sefton.gov.uk.
The team has already been visiting businesses in and around the incident area and are happy to speak to business owners to offer support.
Further information on InvestSefton services can be found at www.investsefton.com.