Small acts of kindness show how the people of Southport will not let violence win
In the days after three girls were killed in a stabbing attack and far-right protesters targeted a local mosque, the community has come together to support emergency workers and clear up the damage caused by the riot.
Friday 2 August 2024 21:06, UK
How do you find the words?
It's the first thing the people of Southport say to me when I talk to them about Monday's attack.
It's a question I asked myself on the drive to this beautiful seaside town in Merseyside.
But somehow in the face of unspeakable horror, the residents of Southport with great compassion, dignity and eloquence, did find the words and spoke for the victims, their families and the wider community.
Arriving on Hart Street on Monday evening, where the stabbing attack that left three girls dead took place, I was met with what I can only describe as a scene of quiet devastation.
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The horror of the attack may have ended some hours before, but the reality of what had happened had barely begun to sink in.
Slowly residents came out from their homes to the police cordon to bear witness, some started to bring flowers - at this point maybe five or six bunches of blooms and some handwritten notes.
What I saw over the course of the next few days was a visual representation of a community coming together in the face of tragedy that only grew as they suffered more bad news.
As one local resident told me that this place may be a small town, but it is a big community.
The makeshift memorial at Hart Street became a carpet of flowers - 6ft deep in some places - with balloons, drawings from local children and cuddly toys… so many cuddly toys.
It may feel like a strange thing to fixate on but the small gestures I saw happening there carried big significance for the people here.
Families with children of a similar age to the victims coming along all together bringing their favourite cuddly toy from their bedroom to leave for those little ones who died or were injured.
Some toys were still new with tags - you just knew the children had been to pick that exact one because they thought Bebe, Elsie and Alice would like it.
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A group of ladies from a nearby street came along to take the teddy bears away so that they wouldn't get wet in the rain overnight and brought them back first thing in the morning and displayed them with such care and thought - a demonstration of how this memorial, this spot has become a symbol of the strength and unity and a place to grieve and find support.
These small acts of kindness have been happening all over the town whether it's a local family coming out to offer a much-needed cuppa, the nans checking the police officers are OK for water and snacks…the local tradesmen rebuilding damaged front walls, children sweeping up debris with a dustpan and brush.
At this point, I have to reference the violence and disorder that began outside a mosque while we were on air Tuesday night.
I felt for Southport - living through one trauma and within 48 hours, another coming to their doorstep.
I won't dwell on it here, again taking the community's lead - they want us to focus on the victims and their families and rightly so. People told me what happened that night was not a representation of Southport or its people.
One woman said she was quietly seething but would not show it because she didn't want the rioters to win.
Again, residents found the words with such dignity and calm - it is so often that when we are confronted by the very worst of humanity, we also experience the best.