How big-hearted communities came together to clean-up after senseless UK riots

The country looked on in horror on 30 July at the riots that rocked Southport, just a day after the town was left reeling from the tragedy of three young girls being killed in senseless stabbings. The riots that then spread across the UK showcased the worst of society and left millions of pounds worth of damage in their wake – but that’s where the best of us stepped in. 

On the early morning of 31 July, the community was out to rebuild, with people brushing up bricks and supporting the mosque that was the target of the thuggery and construction firms resurfacing roads. 

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Southport Hesketh Round Table’s Marc Foreman was among those cleaning up. 

He was on his way to the gym at 6.30am after a night of unrest which left him and his neighbours “concerned for our safety”. 

The roads were closed. He spotted his friends out with brushes and grabbed his own. 

“To me, it was very emotional and it was kind of soul cleansing for me to try and do something to give back,” Foreman told Big Issue. 

“I think it’s very positive. I think it was a great sense of community spirit really when we were all there together of different ages, races and colours. It didn’t really matter who we were, it was just tidying up after some idiots ruining and destroying our town and causing havoc. It’s just horrible to see that it’s happening all over the country now. 

“What this town has shown is that anyone can come together and be part of the community.” 

The Southport Hesketh Round Table started a fundraiser in the wake of the tragic stabbings, which has so far raised more than £40,000 for the families of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar. 

Foreman said the scars will live long in the memory for Southport. 

“I think it’s vital for the community to come together and stay strong,” he said. “Not just because of what happened, but just in general. If you’re proud of your town you don’t want some people destroying what we have because it creates a sense of fear. 

“It’s the worst possible thing for Southport and it’s going to take a long time for us to grieve and get through it.” 

Owen Lea-Porter of road maintenance firm Dowhigh answered a call for help to local businesses from Sefton Council after the riots. 

His team started the clean-up at 3am before heading down with a JCB.  

“This was important to the team, many of whom live locally,” said Lea-Porter.  

“After seeing the mindless chaos that the rioters caused, it was such
a positive feeling to see people simply try to right the wrongs that had been caused by the night before.” 

Click here to donate to Southport Hesketh Round Table’s fundraiser.

Stephen Martin from Sunderland: ‘The loud minority do not speak for us’

It’s 7.30am in Sunderland, outside a popular city centre pub, The Peacock. There’s a huge gathering of Mackems – the name given to locals – all equipped with sweeping brushes, bin bags, and coffee supplied by local businesses. There’s a calmness as people get to the job at hand, clearing broken glass and tidying up the streets surrounding Keel Square and the Empire Theatre, but there’s also shame and anger because the night before, Sunderland was making headlines for all the wrong reasons. 

I run a social media page called Future Sunderland, where I talk about the new developments transforming this north-east coastal city. On the night the riots happened, a multi-million-pound venue, a restoration of a historic building, Sheepfolds Stables had just opened its doors a short hop across the River Wear. This should have been the main headline coming out of Sunderland. 

I watched the carnage unfold via social media, sickened and horrified, as far-right vandals attacked police, smashed windows, and made their way to a suburb in the west where one of the city’s mosques is located. ‘Gang leaders’ from outside the city had come here to whip up an angry mob of locals who had soaked in years of racist rhetoric online. A man from Stoke, walking our streets with a swastika tattooed on his back, was congratulated as a hero. The scenes made me and many others feel like we did not know our own city any more. 

Naturally, you want to hide away, but I saw a comment on a local football forum about helping the council clean up, so I decided to write a post on my Future Sunderland page – a call to everyone to show the world ‘the real Sunderland’. Within an hour, a thousand people had responded, and the numbers kept rising. By the morning, many locals had decided to help the council teams through the night to get the city looking back to its very best. Lots of us decided to wear the colours of our main passion, Sunderland AFC.  

The clean-up was in many ways just a way for us to show solidarity to those in the city who had been targeted. MPs, media, councillors, and religious leaders from all faiths stood together with the people of Sunderland and made it very clear that the loud minority do not speak for us all. 

One building that was destroyed in the riots was a Citizens Advice office, which supports the city’s most vulnerable. Click here if you would like to donate to its rebuilding.

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