One year ago, the quiet seaside town of Southport found itself in the national spotlight for the most tragic reason imaginable. On 29 July 2024, a Taylor Swift-themed dance class ended in devastation after Axel Rudakubana, then 17, launched a rampage, killing Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and leaving eight other girls and two adults critically wounded.
In the days that followed, the nation’s attention turned to the mourning Merseyside town. But as media crews left, the tight-knit community began to pick up the pieces. “We’re just a typical English seaside town – it’s quiet and not much happens here. Certainly not things like what happened last year,” said Sheila Anderson, 62, a long-time resident. “What happened has changed the town. We’re no longer an anonymous seaside town – it’s changed our identity a bit.”
The loss of three young lives was not the only horror the town faced that week. A calm vigil for the murdered girls descended into chaos as violent riots broke out, sparked by misinformation spread online about the killer’s identity. Despite the pain, the community gathered the morning after to clean up their town, hiring skips and rebuilding walls brick by brick, displaying a spirit that has come to define Southport in the year since.
“The way it was handled has given us a sense of pride,” said Sheila. “The riots were awful, but the general consensus was that it wasn’t us – it was people from other places. The town is definitely still grieving, and this week will be difficult. But we know we did what we could.”
Maz Langshaw, 52, whose volunteer-run cafe The Old Bakehouse Coffee Shop will serve as a “reflection hub” for the anniversary, noted that processing grief has been hindered by ongoing media and social media attention. “We were all led by the amazing families of the children,” she said. “They are passionate about making sure the girls have a legacy and are not defined by what happened to them.” Each of the girls’ families has set up a charity or community interest company: Bebe’s Hive, Elsie’s Story, and Alice’s WonderDance Foundation, with much of Southport involved in fundraising.
