With rising costs making life's little treats harder to afford, the Government has introduced the Great British Summer Savings scheme.

VAT cut

From now until Tuesday 1st September, VAT on children's meals in restaurants, children and family tickets to cinemas, theatres and concerts has been cut from 20% to just 5%. These savings also apply to exhibitions, and admission to a wide range of attractions. 

By just typing in their postcode, families can use the special attraction finder at https://summersavings.gov.uk to find nearby venues taking part in the scheme.

Free bus travel

Also, free bus travel in England for children aged 5 to 15 throughout August will make your outing even cheaper. 
You can find out ore about local bus travel and plan your journeys here.

And special £2 Merseyrail return tickets (£1 for children) will make it cheaper for families from across Merseyside to enjoy Southport’s 2026 season of spectacular events. 

There is the Southport Flower Show (Thursday 20th to Sunday 23rd August) and Southport Air Show (Saturday 29th and Saturday 30th August) both of which are free for under 16s and the British Musical Fireworks Championship (Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September) which is free for under 5s. 

The reduced Merseyrail tickets can also be used for visits to Books Alive, the literature festival designed for families and young readers, which runs from Saturday 24th to Saturday 31st October. 

You can find out about events in and around Southport and Sefton here. 

Be Active

Throughout the summer, Active Sefton's Be Active holiday activity programme will be offering a range of activities for children and young people aged up to 16 years.

People can find more and book sessions at www.sefton.gov.uk/be-active

Over the summer, Sefton’s Libraries has a full programme of activities going on, including the Read to the Beat summer challenge details of which can all be found at https://atthelibrary.co.uk/whats-on.

Plus, you can find out about what’s going on at The Atkinson in Southport here.

Great British Summer Savings is a part of a broader effort by the Government to ease financial pressures on families. This includes ending the two-child limit and expanding free school meals, to rolling out free breakfast clubs and delivering 30 hours of free childcare.