A new community initiative is coming to Southport, offering small scale grants to people with creative, imaginative and inspiring ideas to make the town an even better place to live.
Awesome Southport will officially launch at the Ideas Into Action conference this Thursday (12th November 2026), with plans to award its first grant before Christmas.
The initiative is being supported by Southport MP Patrick Hurley and a group of local people who have agreed to contribute their own money to support grassroots projects across the town.
Based on the international Awesome Foundation model, the idea is simple: up to ten founding trustees each contribute £50 a month, creating a fund that can award small scale funds to a local project every two months.
There are no complicated funding applications, no requirement to be a registered charity or constituted organisation, and no lengthy reporting requirements. Applicants simply need a great idea, a clear plan for spending the money, and the enthusiasm to make it happen.
Projects could include anything from community gardening and public art to neighbourhood events, music, creative activities, environmental improvements or completely new ideas that bring people together.
The first award is planned for December, at a special community celebration evening where local people can meet, share ideas and celebrate Southport’s creativity and community spirit.
Patrick Hurley MP said:
“Southport is full of people with brilliant ideas. The problem is that sometimes even the simplest ideas need a few hundred pounds to get off the ground, and finding that money can be surprisingly difficult.
“I’m really pleased to see local people set up Awesome Southport to go about changing that. They’re getting a group of people together who are prepared to put a bit of their own money into a pot and use it to help other people make good things happen.
“It might be a community event, an art project, something that brings neighbours together, or an idea that’s so unusual nobody else would dream of funding it. That’s exactly the sort of thing I want to encourage, and I’m really happy to be able to support it.”
Awesome Southport will be part of the wider Awesome Foundation movement, which began in Boston in 2009 and has inspired chapters around the world to provide small grants to creative and community-minded projects.
The founding group is now finalising arrangements for the launch, including an application process and plans for its first public event, provisionally scheduled for December.
The initiative also hopes to attract additional trustees who share its enthusiasm for Southport and are willing to contribute towards future awards.
Patrick Hurley said:
“One of the things I like about this is that you don’t have to be an expert, run an organisation or know the right people to apply.
“You might be 18 or 80. You might have an idea you’ve been thinking about for years, or something that only occurred to you yesterday.
“If it’s positive, imaginative and could make Southport a little bit more awesome, we want to hear about it.”
Anyone interested in applying for a grant, becoming a trustee or finding out more can visit this site: https://www.awesomefoundation.org/en/chapters/southport
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