Southport girls’ fathers win Helen Rollason Award

Sergio Aguiar and David Stancombe, the fathers of two of the young girls killed in Southport last year, were presented with the Helen Rollason Award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2025.

Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King died at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in July 2024.

Since that day, the three families have set out to establish lasting legacies in their daughters’ names through the projects Elsie’s Story, Alice’s WonderDance and Bebe’s Hive.

Alice’s father Sergio and Elsie’s dad David ran the 2025 London Marathon.

Sergio raised funds to build a new playground at Churchtown Primary School, where Alice and Bebe were pupils, while David ran for Elsie’s Story.

They were presented with their award by former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler and comedian John Bishop.

The Helen Rollason Award recognises outstanding achievement in the face of adversity.

A small team of journalists from BBC Breakfast followed the families of the Southport victims throughout 2025 for the Our Girls: The Southport Families documentary.

The documentary, available on iPlayer, focuses on the joy the girls brought to the families and the legacies their parents have built in their memory.

The families did not know each other before the tragedy but have grown close since.

“There’s two families in the world that know how we feel. It’s them,” said Jenni Stancombe, Elsie’s mother.

Her husband David revealed Elsie had encouraged him to run the London Marathon.

“We were sat in this living room watching [the London Marathon] and I’d not long lost my mum the year before,” said David.

“Elsie was really keen on fundraising. She wanted me to run it for Queenscourt Hospice because that’s who looked after my mum. I was like ‘yeah, yeah maybe babe’. Who wants to run 26.2 miles? It’s not something you just get up and do.

“It was looking like I’d run the London Marathon for Queenscourt. But yeah, that didn’t happen. I ended up running it for Elsie.”

The legacy projects established for each of the girls include Alice’s WonderDance, made by the Aguiars to support young performers with uniforms, classes and transport.

The Stancombes have created Elsie’s Story, a charitable trust that makes grants to assist young people and support others in the Southport area.

One of the projects they have helped fund is Bebe’s Hive, a creative centre set up by the Kings that offers support to grieving children.

Earlier this year, the families helped secure funding for a £10m revamp of Southport’s Town Hall.

The plans, inspired by the girls’ love of dance, music and arts, will act as a “thank you” to the people of Southport for their support in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The families hope the space in the heart of the town centre “will become a legacy inspired by our three beautiful and amazing girls”.

“It will be a place of joy, hope and community. A vibrant place where children and families can feel safe, connected and celebrated in the heart of our town,” the families said.

Former champion boxer Dr Mark Prince won the award in 2024 for his work with the Kiyan Price Foundation, which keeps young people away from knife crime through boxing.