Rev Martin Abrams has been honoured with the Sefton Lifetime Achievement Award sponsored by LWC Drinks at the 2025 Grand Pride Of Sefton Awards.
As the Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy Manager at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, covering Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, Martin’s impact and influence on the town he lives and works in has been huge over the past few years, coming to the fore on a daily basis in his work as a hospital chaplain where he supports people who are often at the lowest points of their life.
Martin has proved to be a daily inspiration with his unwavering support for people in the community during the Covid pandemic matched by his tremendous influence as a spiritual and community lead following the tragic events in Southport in July 2024.
He brought compassion, kindness and unity to the forefront when he spoke at the vigil attended by thousands of local families in the Town Hall Gardens in Southport just 24 hours after three young girls were tragically killed with other children and adults severely wounded.
In his time at the Trust, Rev Martin Abrams has transformed the service he manages beyond all recognition.
He advocates that all patients in hospital should have access to spiritual support, even if they do not have faith.
He leads a team of chaplains from all religions as well as volunteer Spiritual Ambassadors on most wards and departments, all of whom provide a wonderful service to patients and their families at a time of greatest need.
He has gathered an impressive list of achievements since taking the role more than 10 years ago. His vision, leadership and organisational skills have been particularly employed in arranging annual ceremonies so that staff and families in the wider community can remember their loved ones. Ceremonies included a Covid memorial service and annual services such as a baby memorial service and a wave of light event during baby loss awareness week. Both events are there for the public to attend.
The hospitals that Martin serves have a well utilised garden of reflection and baby memorial garden which he was also the inspiration behind as he always looks to think of ideas that will benefit all those affected by grief in some way. As well as coming up with the ideas he played a major role in securing support from the Trust’s charity to finance such popular and well used facilities.
One of the best examples to show Martin’s commitment to supporting families after a sad loss came when he made it his mission to help three women who had lost babies decades ago to discover where their baby’s remains were buried and in doing so help end years of heartbreak.
Some mothers who suffered the trauma of delivering stillborn babies at Southport and Ormskirk hospitals in the 1970s were never told where their babies were buried, a practice that was common 50 years or so ago. Using baptism records and working with local churches and undertakers, Martin’s efforts enabled the three families to find answers and peace which allowed them to finally grieve for the babies they had lost.
His continued work and efforts to support hospital patients and families were particularly crucial during the pandemic. The wide-ranging Covid restrictions at the time made it very difficult for families to see each other and Martin led his team through the most difficult of periods.
With hospital visiting not possible Martin and his team reacted with amazing speed and courage. At a time of huge concern over the dangers of Covid they showed great bravery as they selflessly volunteered to be trained in using masks and full PPE equipment which enabled them to visit patients and offer spiritual support in all areas of the hospital, including the intensive-care unit.
On many occasions, Martin held the hands of dying patients when their family could not be there, sometimes holding phones to help conversations happen. His work during Covid led to a national university study by Edge Hill University which placed the spotlight on the important work of hospital chaplains across the country during Covid and highlighted the importance of their role, not just in Southport but also in hospitals across the country.
Most recently Martin’s influence really came to the fore after the devastating incident that took place in Southport in July 2024 when three young girls were killed, an event that was followed by riots in the town a day later which undoubtedly led to some of the saddest days the local community had ever seen.
Just 24 hours after the deaths of Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, Martin and the team handled the situation with their usual dignity, kindness, and compassion by arranging a minute’s silence at both Southport and Ormskirk hospitals where many staff came together to pause and pay tribute to all those involved.
As a sign of the esteem he is held In locally, Martin was then asked to lead a vigil in the town centre for the whole Southport community to pay their respects to the girls and show solidarity at such a difficult time. His perfectly chosen words and calmness on the evening played a huge part in making the vigil a tremendously poignant occasion.
More than 1,000 people of all ages attended the vigil and gave Martin a huge round of applause after his emotional speech where he said: “Tonight is about standing in solidarity together in the face of life changing events. We share our common humanity, and we weep together.’’
He was interviewed by a host of media outlets and his calming words were welcomed by the people of Southport as it seemed the whole world descended on their town for tragic reasons.
As in everything he does, Martin’s work was outstanding and made a huge difference to the local community at a time when it needed it most.
He is a true community champion and inspiration to us all.
The Pride Of Sefton Awards sponsored by The Grand Southport and organised by Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group and Stand Up For Southport, is an unmissable fixture in the Liverpool City Region events calendar, in association with In Demand Radio.
Next year’s awards will take place at The Grand on Lord Street in Southport on Friday 24th April 2026.
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