'One year on, we are with them every step of the way'
Plus: How to join remembrance or access help and support
Hello and welcome to the midweek edition of The Southport Lead.
This newsletter is being sent a day early to mark the anniversary of last year’s attack as a chance to reflect on what has happened since then and to share some of the ways that people can access support.
What happened 12 months ago will forever affect the lives of those involved and the loss felt by the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie remains something most of us will never be able to comprehend.
In the year since then, they’ve set up charities to honour their children and to provide opportunities for other families, raising staggering sums of money in the process. Andrew Brown writes more about that in this edition and I will forever be in awe of the strength and determination to bring good from the worst circumstance imaginable.
The wider community has also rallied around and shown a character which defines Southport in a way the actions of one evil man do not. I’ve written extensively about the riots which followed the attacks and one of the many dreadful impacts they had was overshadowing the vigil which took place hours earlier.
It’s a memory which remains clearly etched in my mind as an enormous crowd gathered outside the Town Hall. Thousands of people came together in what felt like an almost endless crowd - filled with so many familiar faces who had not been seen to each other in years and could never have predicted this being their reunion.
We were there variously to remember the girls, to try to make some sense of what had happened, and simply to be able to share what we were feeling with others who were also both devastated and bewildered - to give and receive support.
Today’s newsletter focuses on those positives and that sense of community and togetherness. It is something which is often perceived to be disappearing in the modern world but it has been literally and figuratively visible over the past year and I have no doubt it will continue to do so in the future.
Patrick Hurley, Southport, MP, shared a similar sentiment when I spoke to him this week. He said: “It is a mournful occasion. I’m proud of the way the town rallied when it happened, I’m proud of the community spirit and I’m in no doubt that Southport will continue to come together.”
If you are finding this week difficult, you are not alone. Read on for details of where you can access support and join with others to mark the anniversary in a variety of ways. You can also hear from those who were directly affected through the loss of their beloved children.
“Let’s help these extraordinary families to flourish”
By Andrew Brown
Today everyone in Southport is united in remembering Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9.
In the past 12 months our community has put a collective arm around the heartbroken families of these three young girls, as well as all the children, adults and families affected on that terrible day.
Since then, extraordinary things have happened.
The families, inspired by their girls, have reached out to put their arms around Southport.
What they have achieved in such a short space of time is remarkable and we are in awe of them all.
They have started three incredible charities - Elsie’s Story, Bebe’s Hive and Alice’s WonderDance.
They have already hosted and supported numerous fundraising events through all three - with huge plans ahead for them all too.
Elsie’s Story is sharing ‘her positivity, love for others and energy for life, creating smiles one page at a time’.
Bebe’s Hive will ‘support grieving children through creative, child-led healing’.
Alice’s WonderDance will ‘remove barriers so that every child can access dance, explore their passion, and grow through movement in a safe, empowering space’.
If you want to do one positive thing today.
Please donate, or volunteer your time, or organise a fundraising event for one of these charities.
Let’s help them to flourish.
Others, such as Southport Hesketh Round Table, have stepped up too.
This Sunday sees a Charity Match at Southport Football Club organised by the round table and the club, with every penny raised going to the Southport families. Go and be part of something special.
This week, building work has started on the brand new playground and library at Churchtown Primary School in Southport.
It’s thanks to an immense fundraising campaign which raised more than £350,000, partly thanks to Sergio Aguiar, Alice’s Dad, and headteacher Jinnie Payne running the London Marathon.
Earlier this year, the families of the three girls banded together and headed for a meeting with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street.
They emerged with a cheque for £10 million, and a pledge to lead the site’s most significant regeneration ever.
Next year, families will be able to see the creation of a family-friendly, child-orientated, and safe open-air performance and gathering space as a lasting tribute to the people of our town.
What an awesome legacy that is going to be.
As the family of Bebe King said: “To be able to create something so purposeful, so needed, has given us a strength we didn’t know we had.”
These families have lost more than we can ever imagine.
And yet they have given the Southport community far more than we can ever repay - and they plan to keep bringing light after darkness, joy after despair.
We are with them every step of the way.
“Because I knew you, I have been changed for good”
As discussed above, the strength of character and powerful spirit of the three girls’ families has been beyond comprehension. They have conducted themselves with the utmost dignity and somehow found it within themselves to channel their grief into a way to give back to the community and to help other families.
If you wish to, you can donate to their respective charities using the below links and I also wanted to highlight a couple of recent posts they’ve shared recognising the anniversary - click on the links to read their full messages.
Our thoughts first and foremost remain with them today.
“To be able to create something so purposeful, so needed, has given us a strength we didn’t know we had.”
Lauren King, mother of Bebe King
“We set out with an ambition: to continue Elsie’s legacy, to make a positive difference in her name, to bring hope to other children, and to show that we will not live in fear, but with fun and love. We care for one another, look out for each other, and show up when it matters most. No one is alone in this.
”Our girls, our town, will not be remembered for the events of that day, but for everything we are building together”
Jen Stancombe, mother of Elsie Dot Stancombe
“Alice didn’t leave to leave us, but to stay forever. ✨
“She is magic, generosity, love, caring, joy, serenity, purity… Perfection! 🩷🩰🪄✨🎀
“Not a day goes by that we don’t miss her terribly, the weight of pain is getting heavier every day. And so it will be forever. Now we are living with the beautiful memories and thinking about what tomorrow would be like if nothing had happened.”
Sergio and Alex Aguiar, parents of Alice Dasilva Aguiar
Support and remembrance
In accordance with the wishes of the girls’ families, no large-scale memorial event will take place. They have asked that flowers are not placed outside the town hall or on Hart Street, with people instead invited to give donations to charities such as The Southport Stronger Together Appeal, Elsie's Story, Bebe’s Hive, Hope’s Help, Alice’s WonderDance, The Southport Hesketh Round Table and North West Air Ambulance
Sefton Council will be holding a three minutes’ silence at 3pm and while people are invited to do the same from wherever they may be at the time.
In a joint statement, the council’s chief executive Phil Porter and leader Cllr Marian Atkinson said: “Your compassion has been a source of comfort to all affected through their darkest days. The shared grief, countless acts of kindness and especially the commitment to honouring the memory of Alice, Bebe, and Elsie have meant more than words can express.
“This period is incredibly hard for the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie and all of those children and adults injured or who suffered lifelong psychological impact of witnessing the attack, and we acknowledge the huge impact on their lives too. We must not forget the local people who rushed to support and to our emergency responders. They all remain always in our thoughts.
“It is the solidarity you showed as a community which will again shine bright in the coming weeks, and we want everyone to know there has been an incredible amount of consideration, thought and planning given to how we all mark July 29th, 2025.”
Sefton Council’s directory of support - ranging from bereavement and mental health services to advice for parents - can be accessed here. In the more immediate-term, the following places of worship will be open today (with thanks to Stand Up For Southport for compiling the list):
Canning Road Church
Canning Road, High Park, PR9 7SS
01704227755
11am-3pm – prayer and reflection
Lakeside Church
Fairway, Southport, PR9 0LA
01704544419
11am-12pm midday – prayer and reflection
7pm-8pm – prayer and reflection
Shoreline Church
9 Mornington Road, PR9 0TS
01704535989
10am-1.30pm – private prayer and reflection
1.30pm-2.30pm – corporate prayer for our town
St John’s Birkdale
St John’s Road, Birkdale, PR8 4JP
01704564206
8am-7pm – private prayer and reflection
Christ Church
Lord Street, Southport PR8 1AA
10.30am-5pm – prayer and reflection
Salvation Army
Shakespeare Street, PR8 5AJ
01704547805
10.30am-2pm – prayer and reflection
St John’s Ainsdale
Liverpool Road, Ainsdale, PR8 3NG
01704577760
2pm-4pm – prayer and reflection
10am-12pm midday Wednesday 30th July – prayer and reflection
Leyland Road Methodist Church
Leyland Road, Southport PR9 9JQ
01704536648
10am-6pm – prayer and reflection
Liverpool Road Methodist Church, Birkdale
Liverpool Road, Birkdale, PR8 4PD
01704 562697
7am-6pm – prayer and reflection
3pm – 3 minute silence
One final event to signpost you to is an open training session at Southport FC. The club is working to return to being a proper community club and the free admission also comes with a chance to meet the players and staff and take part in a moment of silence and reflection.
The 1881 Lounge will be open from 6pm with supporters admitted to the ground from 7pm. Free tickets can be booked here.
What the future holds
As said already, there is no doubt that the families and community will continue to do extraordinary work to help others affected by what happened that and many more people beyond that.
Construction has already begun on a playground at Churchtown Primary School, where Alice and Bebe attended. Funding has also been promised to transform the Town Hall Gardens into a family-friendly, child-orientated, and safe open-air performance and gathering space in memory of the three girls.
It is hoped that the project will be completed in 2027.