Record crowds flocked to the famous Southport links last year to watch the world’s greatest golfers and The R&A has agreed to provide a six-figure sum from the proceeds of the Championship to Sefton Council in order to support three major projects.
The legacy projects include:
• £40K towards improving ‘green’ tourism and connectivity on Southport Pier for more people to enjoy. This will include new RSPB telescopes on the oldest cast iron constructed pier in the country to view wildlife and terrestrial and underwater webcams and television screens to view other marine life. A new access point on the pier will also be constructed.
• £40K to the Aspiring Instructors training pathway scheme – this provides customised training opportunities in the leisure and sports sector for residents not in work. The Aspiring Instructors scheme is run in partnership with Sefton@Work and the Council’s Leisure team creating training and potential job opportunities within the sector. It is hoped the new programme funded by The R&A would help 25 new starters on the scheme.
The remaining £20K will go towards improvements on Birkdale Common which was integral to hosting The 146th Open. Money will go towards a new noticeboard, an accessible boardwalk ramp, new signage and boundary improvements.