For six years, Stand Up For Southport has brought you our town’s news every day, free to read, through our website and social media pages from a team of one.
Today I can tell you that’s about to change. We’ve been backed by the government’s Local News Fund to grow Stand Up For Southport into a properly resourced local newsroom operated by a team of skilled local people.
Here’s what it means for you.
A free daily newsletter. From Monday 9th November 2026, from 8am seven days a week you’ll be able to get Southport’s news in your inbox every weekday morning. It will be short, local and written by people who live here: what’s happening today, what you need to know, what’s on each week, and the people behind the stories. Sign up free at: SUFS FULL PAGE
More of the news that matters. The funding means more time for the stories that take time: council decisions, planning applications, transport and health. It will be reported properly, with a focus on how decisions impact our town.
Southport People. We’re starting a series of profiles of the amazing people who make this town what it is: shopkeepers, volunteers, market traders, community leaders, café owners. If you know someone we should feature, tell us.
Built with local businesses. We’re working with local businesses as partners, so Stand Up For Southport stays free to read for everyone.
Southport needs a news source it can trust. This is our chance to build one that lasts.
The project runs until March 2027, and we’ll keep you updated on how it’s going. I’m joined by Jo Delaney-McGuffie, who many local businesses will already know; Southport journalist Jamie Lopez; Phil O’Brien, a Liverpool-born journalist who runs W42ST a similar daily newsletter in New York and is spending the next five months here helping us set it up; and Janelle Jordan who will support us with audience development and email marketing.
The best thing you can do to help is sign up for the newsletter and tell a friend: SUFS FULL PAGE .
Stand Up For Southport founder Andrew Brown said:
“Southport deserves news it can trust, reported by people who actually live here, and are passionate about and invested in the future of our town. This gives us the chance to build it properly, and to bring it to your inbox every morning.
“For six years Stand Up For Southport has been a one-man band, and I’m delighted the Local News Fund has given us the chance to build it into a proper local newsroom. Phil O’Brien and W42ST have shown what a daily newsletter backed by local businesses can do in a neighbourhood of New York. Bringing that home to Southport, with people who live here doing the journalism, is exactly what our town deserves.”
W42ST founder Phil O’Brien said:
“Trusted local news is something communities cherish around the world, from New York to Southport and beyond.
“Over the past 12 years our team in Hell’s Kitchen have built our W42ST newsletter and website into a must-read for local residents every morning. I am looking forward to working closely with Andrew, Jo, Janelle and Jamie to further develop Stand Up For Southport, bringing more local news including a daily newsletter which is launched on Monday.”
Read More: Why I’ll Be in England Until March — and What It Means for W42ST
Southport MP Patrick Hurley said:
“Local newspapers used to be part of the fabric of every town. They told us what was happening, held people in power to account and helped communities feel connected. As they’ve disappeared, too much of that space has been taken over by online groups, rumours and misinformation. Time and time again, we’ve seen locally the damage that can do to trust and cohesion.
“I’m pleased to see that this problem is being recognised more and more, and I’m very happy to be able to support a new initiative to try to build something better, with initial seed funding from the DCMS Local News Fund. Southport is a good place to start, but this is about much more than one town. If we can find a way of making proper local journalism work again, without costing the earth, there’s no reason why other towns across the country couldn’t do the same.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham hailed the importance of local news as ministers announced a £6m package of funding for the industry.
In an article to mark the launch of Journalism Matters Week, the Prime Minister described local journalism as “part of the infrastructure of a healthy country.”
It comes as the DCMS announced the first tranche of recipients from the £6m a year Local News Fund, set up as part of the government’s local media action plan in March.
Grants of up to £125,000 are being awarded to individual news organisations, while funding of up to £275,000 is available for projects that support the wider industry. The package includes £122,800 funding support to develop Stand Up For Southport.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:
“Too much power in this country has flowed one way: towards Westminster and away from the places where people actually live their lives.
“This government is changing that. We are putting power and resources back into the hands of communities. Because I want people in local communities to have a bigger say over the decisions that shape their area.
“At moments when communities are at their most vulnerable, good local journalism can bring people together and separate fact from fiction.”
Stand Up For Southport is funded by the UK government’s Local News Fund
Do you have a story for Stand Up For Southport? Do you need advertising, PR or media support? Please message Andrew Brown or email: [email protected]
