Projects supported by L30’s Million

Big Local was launched in Netherton with a family fun day, organised in partnership with the L30 Community Centre. Since then, our funding has been used to:

• Run memory sessions, inviting residents to talk to us about their memories of Netherton and their ideas about the area going forward.
• Invest in training and development for local people.
• Provide education and mentoring to young people around healthy life choices. 
• Support mental health and wellbeing in the community.
• Provide funding to a local resident to set up a youth market, build community planters and support local groups with small grants.
• Invest in local assets, including the community centre, community garden, healthy living centre and boxing club.

Activities have also been provided for the whole community to take part in, including community fun days and an outdoor cinema, and street exercise sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The whole street would just be out … it was just fabulous. We’re talking grandparents, with their children, with their grandchildren, neighbours that hadn’t seen each other for years, all just coming out, chatting to each other.”

Suey Lee, Mental Health and Wellbeing Connector and local resident, who ran the street exercise sessions during the pandemic 

Videos

Our videos capture our community and tell the story of our projects and events.

St Oswald’s Community Café
L30’s Million has supported St Oswald’s to complete work on a welcoming community café space within the church, to provide:

• A safe space for older residents who are feeling isolated, especially those whose mental, emotional and physical wellbeing suffered during the pandemic, and those with dementia.
• A relaxed cafe space for young people to develop events and activities for those with extra needs, especially those who are on the autism spectrum. The new friends they make through the project, the support networks that are established and their new social roles will help to reduce the chances of emotional and behavioural problems, and allow them to discover their potential and access new opportunities.

Sefton Amateur Boxing Club (ABC)

Sefton ABC has been transforming young lives in the L30 area for almost 50 years. L30’s Million are delighted to have been able to support them to complete their ambitious renovation of their club house.

The funding will help finish a double wing extension, effectively doubling the floor space of the gym and providing improved male and female changing facilities, a disabled toilet, kitchen, office and parents’ room.

The extension will mean that Sefton ABC can double the number of young people they work with, from 30-50 per night to 70-90 per night.

The club engages with young people on their terms, providing a constructive outlet for their energy. They ensure that the young people learn the value of setting positive goals, providing discipline, purpose and improving self-confidence and self-esteem. The young people are part of a team and will encounter challenge and support in equal measure.

When the work is complete, Sefton ABC will be ready to transform local young people’s lives for another 50 years!

Sefton Citizen’s Advice (CA)

L30’s Million has commissioned Sefton CA to secure the services of an experienced advisor. They will work from the L30 Community Centre one day a week, providing easily accessible, expert advice to support residents with the cost of living crisis.

After only 6 months over £50k of additional benefits have been secured for local people.

Business start-up support

L30’s Million has secured the services of Geoff Kirkman from Offploy, to help residents who wish to set up their own business. Geoff can help with researching the competition, clarifying the risks and developing a business plan, and support with marketing to give new businesses the best start.

Geoff can also advise community and not-for-profit groups on their constitution and governance structure and support with fundraising to make them more sustainable.

Community research project

A team of people from the L30 area got together to find out more about what Netherton valued during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020/21.

Specific questions were asked to find out:

• who or what had been helping them through lockdown
• what good and bad memories they had
• if they had used any outdoor areas
• if there was anything they would like to get involved with in helping the community.

The research was conducted in two phases. The first took place in the latter half of 2021 and combined face-to-face questions with Facebook group polls.

The second phase was completed in the first couple of months of 2022. It was designed to capture the views of a wider range of people who may have been under-represented in the first phase, for example children, older people not on Facebook, and other people in the community using local community centres and/or local support services.

The research findings can be found within a summary report which is available to read. These findings supported future conversations and ideas, and highlighted areas of interest for the community and L30’s Million.