Hello and welcome to midweek edition of The Southport Lead.
Earlier this year, we brought news that proposed budget cuts threated the future of cancer navigator services at Southport Macmillan Centre.
Despite concerns being raised over the proposals, they were voted through and will see the number of cancer navigators reduced from six to two.
It’s a decision no-one is happy with - including the decision makers who say their hands are tied.
Fresh scrutiny was brought on the matter at a council meeting last night in which the impact of the potential loss was made clear.
Southport briefing
🛣️ Highways bosses are being urged to extend the safety barrier on a busy bridge that forms part of the main route between Southport and Preston after the side of the structure was struck three times in the space of six weeks. Concrete blocks had to be put in place to plug a gap that was left in Bank Bridge, on the A59 in Tarleton, after the most serious of the incidents in July. Before the month was out, the blocks themselves had been hit – and there was a further minor collision just a few weeks later. County Cllr Thomas de Freitas, who represents the West Lancashire North division on Lancashire County Council, says it is “an absolute miracle” that a vehicle has not so far fallen into the River Douglas, which the crossing spans. County Cllr de Freitas has called on Lancashire County Council to take short-term safety measures to reduce the risk level on the key route – and investigate a more substantial long-term solution, such as building a brand new bridge. He says the most sensible immediate step would be to lengthen the metal safety barrier on the westbound side of the road, which currently comes to a stop just before the point at which the bridge wall is being repeatedly bashed.
“It’s a couple of meters further up [that the accidents are happening] so the crash barrier itself barely ever gets hit. Extending the barrier would make it safer, because vehicles wouldn’t risk going into the water and it would protect pedestrians as well, [especially with there being] a kindergarten just a couple of hundred yards away. However, after being told following the first of the July accidents that a review by County Hall road chiefs would be completed within four weeks, the Conservative politician has now been advised by the Reform UK-run authority that the outcome will not be known until just before Christmas. Any recommended changes may then be considered for inclusion in the highway works programme for the 2027/28 financial year, meaning they could be up to 18 months away from implementation. County Cllr de Freitas said the issue was not solely one of safety, but that it also had economic implications because of the disruption to the local road network when repairs to the bridge have to be carried out. Last year, temporary traffic lights installed during one such job caused “multiple-hour delays”, he said.
🙏 Two Southport-based professionals have launched a £10,000 crowdfunding appeal to bring early therapeutic support to local children and families, challenging the idea that help should only become available when difficulties reach crisis point. Lynne Callaghan and Ruth Kinsella-Tate, co-founders of Growing Hearts and Minds CIC, have drawn on their experience of supporting children and families to develop a community-focused approach that looks beyond a child’s immediate difficulties and considers the relationships and experiences around them. Having seen families struggle to access timely help, they also believe that support focused solely on a child, or on short-term solutions, may miss the underlying emotional and relational needs that influence long-term wellbeing. Lynne said: “Over the years, we’ve seen children and families struggling, often having to reach crisis point before meaningful support becomes available. Children don’t exist in isolation. Their emotional wellbeing is shaped by their experiences, relationships and the world around them. We want to understand what is happening beneath the behaviour and support the important adults around each child, too.”
The first pilot will support four children in one Southport school, alongside their families and the school staff working with them. The programme will combine play therapy, family support and reflective guidance for school professionals, aiming to strengthen relationships and create changes that can last beyond the sessions themselves. “Parents, carers and teachers want the best for children, but sometimes they need support too,” said Ruth. “We want families to feel understood rather than judged. By working together, we hope to build confidence, connection and a stronger network of support around every child.” The non-profit organisation hopes to use learning and outcomes from its initial £10,000 pilot to demonstrate its impact, secure further funding and extend its work to more children, families and schools across Southport. “We know we can’t change everything overnight,” Lynne added. “But if we can make a meaningful difference to four children and their families, and use that learning to reach many more, that’s a wonderful place to start.” Residents, businesses and community organisations are invited to donate and share the appeal.
🤝 People supporting the third Interfaith Walk in Southport heard how “the need to express our solidarity publicly is as important now as it has ever been”. People of various faiths walked together from Southport & District Reform Synagogue to Christ Church and then to Southport Mosque & Islamic Cultural Centre on Sunday just over two years since riot saw a mob of people launch missiles against the mosque. The Walk Of Unity was created to promote friendship, understanding and co-operation between faith communities working together for peace, social cohesion and the wellbeing of Southport. In a speech at Southport Mosque, The Revd Graham Turner, Christian Minister, and member of the Southport Interfaith Group, said: “This is our third Interfaith Walk, and the need to express our solidarity publicly is as important now as it has ever been. Some of our faith communities continue to be under real pressure. For instance, the people of this Mosque continue to receive threats, even though they have opened their doors and their hearts to the people of Southport.
“It beggars belief that they have to pay for security simply to come together to pray in safety. It is now just a year since the Heaton Park Synagogue was attacked on Yom Kippur, of all days – two people were killed and three others were seriously injured. Crumpsall, north Manchester, is not a million miles from here – physically or emotionally. The shockwaves from that violence are felt here in our two synagogues. As we repeatedly assert: An attack on one of us is an attack on us all [...] Solidarity is not about pretending that we believe the same things. We don’t. We have different histories, different traditions, different understandings of God (if you have one at all), and different perceptions of what it means to live a good life. But what we do have is our shared common humanity, and it is up to us to prove that it is possible to be one community without turning ‘difference into hostility’.”
Cancer support services face being destroyed by budget cuts
By Jamie Lopez
Budget cuts will “destroy” the services offered by Southport Macmillan Centre, its medical director has warned.
The cancer centre is set to lose four of its six cancer navigators after losing funding from the Southport and Formby Primary Care Network (PCN) which itself has seen its funding reformulated by NHS England.
The Cancer Navigator Service is run by Southport Macmillan Centre from its base on Wright Street and offers a combination of emotional and practical support, factoring in counselling, group sessions and signposting patients and families to other services.
Earlier this year, the PCN - which is a collection of 14 GP practices and other local providers - was told its funding would be cut by £600k with the money instead sent directly to GP practices with stricter limits on how it can be spent. As a result, it had to find savings from the services it provides collectively and has sought to defend against criticism for its decision by saying it was left with no alternative and that its members also did not want to see the service cut.
The change will see £200k of existing funding for Macmillan withdrawn and the number of cancer navigators cut from six to two. The matter was brought before Sefton Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee last night amid concerns from local councillors about the impact of the changes and the lack of democratic oversight in the decision
At that meeting, Dr Graeme Allan Medical Director and Primary Care Cancer Lead & Macmillan GP, warned the cuts would have a significant impact on its services which would not be addressed by any of the proposed mitigations being put in place by GP practices.
Before the discussion was opened, committee chair Cllr Daniel McKee referenced incorrect reporting from the BBC and Liverpool Echo which suggested the decision was a council one when it was made by the PCN. Instead, he explained, the matter had been raised for council discussion so that its reasoning and effect could be explained to committee members and scrutinised.
Introducing the discussion, the PCN’s clinical director Dr Rob Caudwell explained that the PCN was given six weeks’ notice by NHS England that its funding would be reduced by £600,000 for this financial year, with the money instead paid straight to individual practices with more limits on how it can be spent.
