On the 7th February Southport Phab reopened it’s doors! The club had been closed for many years, but thanks to Lily Ritchie, some Phabulous volunteers and Jacqui Sutton from National Phab, they were pleased to host their first session with 18 children attending!
Lily Ritchie the New Leader of Southport Phab shared:
“Since graduating from university and starting my caseworker job in Southport I really wanted to give back to the community after what has been a difficult year for the town. The idea of bringing back a Phab Club in Southport, came to me when I was sitting in the office when I thought, what ever happened to our Phab club?
Rewind ten years ago Phab played a massive part in my family’s lives when my brother got diagnosed with ADHD and ASD. I remember attending Phab as an early pre-teen, getting the opportunity to make friends and take part in sports activities. It was the first time I felt included in a children’s activity club, which is why I knew how important it was to bring the club back to Southport so that parents and children in the community could be supported in the same way my family was.
With over four months of preparation and many “coconut lattes”, on the 7th of February we hosted the first Southport Phab, with eighteen children attending the evening! To say I wasn’t nervous would have been a massive lie but with the support of Jacqui Sutton from Phab National, friends and family the night went amazing. Many of the children had the opportunity to play sports such as badminton, pickleball, football and swimming.”
Lily Ritchie
Jacqui Sutton, Phab Community Officer also shared:
“The launch of Southport Phab at Dunes was an amazing night. It has been such a pleasure working with Lily to get Southport Phab Club up and running and back in Southport. So many people had missed the previous Club and kept asking when would a Phab Club come back to the town? Lily has made this happen, well done Lily and thank you on behalf of everyone who is going to benefit from having Southport Phab back on the map. Lily is also running the Marathon for Phab, good luck Lily!”
Jacqui Sutton
You can follow Southport Phab’s Facebook page here – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571551294034