New figures released by the Government reveal that Sefton is the happiest place to be in Merseyside.
And according to Sefton Council Chief Executive Dwayne Johnson, it’s about to get better.
Every year, the Government publishes its annual national well-being measure to find the happiest and unhappiest places in the UK.
The survey is conducted on a March to March basis, with this year’s statistics including the build- up to the national lockdown on March 23.
According to the figures, Sefton was the happiest place to live with a score of 7.7 out of 10, higher than Liverpool, Knowsley, Wirral and St Helens.
The news comes as no surprise, due to Sefton’s beautiful coastline, stunning parks, landmarks such as Southport Pier, Antony Gormley’s Iron Men and Formby Pinewoods, and big events such as Southport Flower Show, Southport Comedy Festival, Southport Air Show and Formby Festival.
Sefton Council Chief Executive Dwayne Johnson Tweeted: “Despite Covid, it’s great to see that Sefton is the ‘happiest place to live’ in our region on the Government’s wellbeing measures.
“Hopefully with more announcements in the borough in the coming weeks we will see more positive news… and give some hope to our area.”
Read More: Southport Town Deal £50m plans to improve town revealed in new video
Last week, Sefton Council revealed proposals for a brand new ‘Southport Cove’ on the seafront, which would attract £40million investment and create 120 new jobs.
This week the Southport Town Deal Board submitted £50million proposals for regeneration funding to the Government.
Top of the list was a new ‘waterside events centre’ on the site of Southport Theatre, an interactive lights display at the Marine Lake, Southport Pleasureland transformed into an all weather all year round attraction and a revamped Lord Street.
The data, collected by the Office of National Statistics, showed an overall deterioration in aspects of well-being reflecting our daily emotions, anxiety and happiness from March 2019 to March 2020.
Figures show the average anxiety in the UK jumped to its highest level since the ONS began measuring well-being and average happiness levels also declined steeply and significantly.
Southport Flower Show is held every August at Victoria Park in Southport
According to the statistics, in Merseyside, Sefton is the happiest place to live, with the area boasting a rating of 7.7 – with 10 being the happiest.
In contrast, it seems people are least happy in Liverpool and Knowsley, which had the lowest happiness ratings of 7.3.
Here are more detailed figures showing levels of happiness and anxiety across Merseyside.
Sefton
Sefton has a happiness ranking of 7.7 which is a marked climb from 7.4 in the previous year.
It has also seen a drop in the anxiety ratings at 2.9, down from 3.1 in the previous year.
Liverpool
Liverpool has a happiness ranking of 7.3. This is a slight decrease from 7.4 in the previous year.
Anxiety has risen to 3.2 from 2.8 from last year. Despite the increase, a score less than 4 is still considered low.
Knowsley
Knowsley has a happiness ranking of 7.3 which is down from 7.5 in the previous year.
However, anxiety is down with a ranking of 2.7 compared to 2.9 the previous year.
St Helens
St Helens has a happiness ranking of 7.5. This is the same as its score of 7.5 the previous year.
Anxiety ranking is also the same as the previous year with a score of 2.9.
Wirral
Wirral has a happiness ranking of 7.4. This is a slight decrease from the score of 7.5 the previous year.
Anxiety ranking is also down with a score of 2.7. This is a slight decrease from 2.8 the previous year.
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