One Merseyside area has been labelled as "thriving" after years of struggle and deprivation.
Netherton in south Sefton has spent years being restricted by a low standard of living in comparison to other areas in the country, but the area now looks to be on the rise as people across the community come together. One key factor in the revival of the area has come from a surprising source.
Netherton CommUnity is a Facebook group that has just turned three years old, and in surprising fashion, the social media group has proved to be a key part of the community, especially during the pandemic that forced people indoors and online. During the pandemic, the online group has proved to be a space where people across the area could come together virtually when they couldn't physically.
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The Facebook group was formed by Chris Kelly, a dad of six who had become fed up with the area being synonymous with crime and violence. Initially, the group would have people throughout the area meet up and discuss ongoing issues, but as the pandemic changed things, so did the group.
Chris, who also volunteers in the area and coaches children's football, put an emphasis on people being able to reach out to one another and ask for help when they were struggling. He has also shone a light on the positive things happening in the area.
The group is also partnered heavily with local community centre, the L30 centre. Debbie Stephens, who works at the centre and has spent the last 21 years working in the community, said that the area is thriving more than anything and focuses on "what's strong rather than what's wrong".
She told the ECHO: "We're all about building on what's strong not what's wrong. By building on what's strong you can get the community to address what's wrong. That's everything we do and Chris is very much the same.
"Chris and I work very closely on things like this and use the same sort of language about building on what we've already got and by doing that you make the community want to do more and so then they soon realise they don't need external services to come in and change things for them. They can change things for themselves and make it a better place. They can make Netherton a place they want to live and how they want it to be and that's what's happening."
The 51-year-old continued: "The community should have a say in how funding's used, what it looks like and how it's spent. Going forward we just need to have a say on things like this and the community can have their own plan and can shape the future of where they live and where their children grow up. That's what we're trying to do."
Chris opened up about the work that the group does, with 10,000 people now in the group, he takes great pride in the work that he and others in the group have done. He told the ECHO: "It started them three years ago when we had another shooting in the area and crime was skyrocketing across Netherton.
"I just put a post up on Facebook saying that enough is enough and asking people if they fancy getting together to look at some of the issues and seeing what we could do about them. That was the start of Netherton CommUnity.
"Before covid we had face-to-face meetings and we had some really strong members of the community sit down in the same room talking about, not so much what was bad about Netherton but what was good and what we could use to build on. The real strength in the community is the people and the assets that we've got, it's those assets that are really making a difference today.
"The Facebook group just keeps people connected and knowing what's going on. The moment you start feeling a part of something you automatically take more pride in it.
"The amount of good that we do whether it's with Easter or at Christmas, even just the general day-to-day stuff with people donating and helping out, I've got to give credit to the admin team who keep things going behind the scenes. The people that get help and you don't even see it on the page.
"The kind of help we do in the community is the kind that you don't run round shouting about because you're dipping into people's personal lives and helping them with times that are really difficult for them so they're not having to rely on services."
With the group now reaching the 10k members milestone and with it falling on the third anniversary since the creation of the social media group, a raffle has been organised with 34 prizes open to anyone who wishes to enter on the group's page.
