New Nepalese restaurant opening in Southport as number of jobs climbs to 26

THE opening of the brand new Royal Himalayas restaurant in Southport was on:- Friday, 24 May 2024, on Eastbank Street. It's the sister venue of the iconic Great Himalayas restaurant, which has won numerous national and Regional awards since it opened on Lord Street, baxkj in March 2020. This new location will take the number of people working at the 2 sites to 26, with 12 at the Great Himalayas and 14 at Royal Himalayas and are still looking foe 3 more staff members.

Earlier this year the Great Himalayas was Highly Commended in the National Curry Awards, which celebrate the talents of businesses in the nation's curry industry.

Owner Prakash Shahi said:- "We are really excited to be opening our doors to the Royal Himalayas next Friday. Everything is ready! Our new restaurant will be similar in style to the Great Himalayas, but with the addition of some new street food dishes and new food that diners can try. The Great Himalayas has become extremely popular since we opened. We have lots of regular customers, but we get extremely busy, especially during weekends, and sometimes have to turn people away. Having 2 venues to give us the capacity to welcome more diners. We will have 100 plus covers in our new restaurant as well as some space for people to sit and enjoy a drink outside. There are lots of great restaurants along Lord Street but not many on Eastbank Street, so we were very interested when this opportunity became available. It has taken 3 months of hard work to transform this building. Everything is new. We have new flooring; we have repainted the walls and new kitchen. We have beautiful pictures of Nepal on our walls, including pictures of my home town, which were taken by my brother! We have a really big kitchen here too. It is going to be busy. Having the 2 sites will mean that Royal Himalayas will be closed on Mondays, with the Great Himalayas closed on Tuesdays starting:- 28 May 2024, so people will still be able to come and dine with us 7 days a week, while still allowing us to give out staff some time off during the week. Once the Royal Himalayas opens we will also start a new delivery service. People will be able to order food to be delivered via the Just Eat app. People can also order via phone and come and pick up their food. Lots of our diners have been asking us if we can start offering deliveries, so we are delighted that we will now be able to provide this service for them."

Prakash is excited to be investing further in Southport Town Centre with the opening of his 2nd restaurant in the area. He said:- "I love the people in Southport! They are really friendly, and have been hugely supportive since we 1st opened. It is a great Town to be in. There is lots of investment happening, lots of new businesses opening. Southport BID and Sefton Council have been very supportive of us too. I have enjoyed attending the Southport BID Your Southport Stars Awards, which really helped to get our name out there. They have also helped us through publicity and through creating photos and video content for us. Southport BID does a lot to help local businesses in Southport. I have some friends with restaurant elsewhere in the Region who doesn't get the same support that we do here in Southport."

Prakash is now looking forward to the opening day next Friday. He added:- "Our customers have been waiting for us to open! People keep asking me when the opening date is. Lots of people have been walking past while work is taking place and asking us how things are going.; We are ever excited to open our doors and welcome our 1st customers. 1 thing I would ask people when they come in is to bear with us and be patient. We will have some new staff alongside our experienced staff from the Great Himalayas, a new kitchen, and a new restaurant. Please bear with us for the 1st 2 weeks as everyone gets used to everything."

The restaurants have started a great Nepalese love affair with Southport.  Prakash explained:- "When I 1st came to Southport, there was only 1 other Nepalese family living here. He was delighted when we arrived! Now there are more than 25 Nepalese people living in Southport, they love it here. It is fantastic having our own Nepalese community here in Southport."

The Great Himalayas has received numerous accolades, including:- a TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Award, a nomination for the Your Southport Stars Awards, the 1st Nations Curry Award, and the English Curry Award. Celebrities such as Liverpool FC legend Steven Gerrard have been spotted dining there.

From Himali Lamb Chops to shahi Chicken to Himalayan Brothers Special Fish Curry, Great Himalayas serves intriguing and mouth-watering Nepalese dishes. Owner Prakash Shahi said:- "The Great Himalayas has been a huge success since we opened. We started with 6 members of staff. We are now growing to 26! We have grown to cope with a growing demand from people who want to come and dine with us and try our delicious Nepalese food. Our customers have kept coming to eat with us since the 1st day we opened and we are very thankful to them for their support."

Great Himalayas offers authentic Nepalese cuisine that's full of flavour with special ingredients, spices and herbs sourced from Nepal. The owners and the chefs all hail from the Himalayas. Their food is cooked using traditional Nepalese techniques that will delight your taste buds.

New research reveals preventing serious violence could save Merseyside more than £200m a year

A new report looking into the complex causes and impact of violence in Merseyside has revealed that preventing violent incidents could save the Region more than £200million.

The report is the latest assessment of how much violence costs the Police and criminal justice, the healthcare system, and how much money is lost due to those affected being unable to work, as well as the physical and emotional harm.

The in depth review was commissioned by Merseyside's Violence Reduction Partnership (MVRP) to help inform their work to prevent and reduce serious violence and was carried out by Liverpool John Moores University Public Health Institute (LJMU PHI).

The report supports the approach taken by the MVRP and supported by the Police and Crime Commissioner and Merseyside Police to fund and deliver programmes focused on early intervention to prevent violence, keep communities safe and reduce the financial burden on the Region.

It also adds further weight to the importance of investing in prevention, following a review by the Home Office which showed for every £1 spent in serious violence prevention work, there was a return of £4.10 in savings to society.

Since it was established, the MVRP has invested £20m into violence prevention and the results are already evident from the reductions in the 3 key criteria used by the Home Office to evaluate their success:-

• 31% reduction in the number of under 25s admitted to hospital with an injury due to a knife or sharp object.
  

• Knife enabled serious violence related to under 25s has decreased by nearly 14%.
  

• No non-domestic homicides involving a knife of a person under 25 since November 2021.

Merseyside's Police Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, said:- "The impact of violence on our Region cannot be underestimated. It brings misery, suffering and heartache to all those it touches and, as this report confirms, it also brings with it a huge economic burden too. All of this reinforces how essential it is to try and prevent crime from happening in the 1st place. It's vital we invest in initiatives and programmes that get upstream and stop young people going down a path which could lead to violence and that's why the work of our Violence Reduction Partnership is so critical. Over the past 5 years this team has helped to spearhead the work to prevent crime and the results are clear to see; serious violence is decreasing. This are no quick fixes though, and if we are to push it down even further, we need guaranteed funding for the MVRP for the future; way beyond the current end point of March 2025. The Government must commit to a long-term investment in these vital teams if we are to protect families and communities and save our Region money."

MVRP's Director Superintendent Georgie Garvey said:- "We firmly believe that violence is preventable and by working with young people right from birth through to the age of 13, we know we can reduce serious violence later down the line. Evidence shows we are heading in the right direction, but there is always more we can do, and this report once again highlights why it is so important we invest in early intervention and prevention, delivering programmes that will reduce violence in our communities and protect future generations while also reducing the financial burden on our Region."

Professor Zara Quigg from LJMU added:- "Violence places substantial impacts on the health and wellbeing of communities, and this report demonstrates the economic impact this has on public services. Such evidence is vital for advocating for investment and the implementation of a public health approach to preventing violence, that addresses the underlying causes to prevent violence and improve health and well-being in the long term."

Figures in the report show, as well as the suffering and emotional toll suffered by families and communities, the total budget for policing, support for victims, the courts, prisons and offender management was more than £143m.

The study estimates a further £33.5m was spent by the healthcare system treating the consequences of violence. This includes:- the costs of A&E attendances, ambulance call outs and hospital admissions, with a further £21m being spent on the treatment for the emotional impact of violence.

It also found:-

• £3.5m is allocated to supporting victims and survivors.
  

• Putting serious cases through the criminal justice system cost more than £90m over the year.
  

• Almost 6,000 people attending A&E department across the Region following assaults.
  

• £1.2m is spent on emergency hospital admissions following violence.
  

• More than 10,500 people in employment were victims or survivors of violence leading to £12.8m in lost paid work.

While the cost of violence to the Police and criminal justice system have not increased, this figure includes greater funding secured by the Police and Crime Commissioner to support victims and survivors and to prevent crime. The increase has also been driven by more funding being allocated to counselling for issues such as anxiety and depression following a crime.