Christmas and New Year 2025-26 - Council services update

Wirral Council has confirmed details of festive opening hours for key services.

Some council areas will shut down, with others offering limited opening hours, over the festive period meaning that some services will be unavailable at that time.

Many services can still be requested through the council website but may not receive attention until Friday 2 January 2026.

Details of opening hours for various services, attractions and more are outlined below:

Adult social services

Adult Social Care operates through the Christmas period. If you require support or have an urgent need relating to Adult Social Care in Wirral between 9am and 5pm on 29, 30 or 31 December, please contact the Central Advice and Duty Team on 0151 606 2006. If you are calling after 5pm, or on any of the days not listed above, and if your enquiry is urgent, please contact the Emergency Duty Team on 0151 677 6557.

For more information, visit: Assessing what care you need | wirral.gov.uk.

Bin collections

If your green and grey bin day is Thursday or Friday, there are some day changes to be aware of this Christmas and New Year.

Christmas Day is on Thursday 25 December – bins due then will instead be collected on Saturday 27 December
Boxing Day is Friday 26 December – those bins will instead be collected on Sunday 28 December
New Year’s Day is Thursday 1 January 2024. Those bins will instead be collected on Saturday 3 January 2026.

Brown bin collections pause from 22 December and restart on 16 January 2026.

Please put bins out for collection by 7am on your scheduled day.

Carers' support

This time of year can bring up a lot of emotions and stresses. WIRED the Wirral Carers Health and Wellbeing Service provides free support to adult Carers (including Parent Carers and Young Adult Carers in transition), the service focuses on identifying Carers and supporting them to access services to assist them in their caring role and to help them to maintain and improve their health and wellbeing.

WIRED’s standard carer support services will close for the festive period on 24 December at 1pm and re-open on 2 January 2026 at 9am. Additional provision will be available to support carers whilst normal carer support services are closed – information here: https://wired.me.uk/carer-support/evening-weekend-carer-support/

Information and support are also available via the Mobilise App, which can be downloaded from their website - Online support for unpaid carers | Mobilise

Emergency 1:1 calls are available here – Book a free 30 minute call with one of our carers coaches | Mobilise.

Children Centres / Family Hubs

Bromborough - closed from 25 December to 1 January 2026
Brassey Gardens - closed from 25 December to 1 January 2026
Seacombe - open 9am-5pm, 24, 29, 30 and 31st December. Normal opening times start again on 2 January 2026
St James - open until 2pm on 24 December. Closed from 25 December to 2 January 2026
Koala North West - open until 4pm on 24 December. Closed from 25 December to 2 January 2026
Equilibrium - closed on 24 December. Back open on 29 and 30 December. Normal opening times start again on 5 January 2026

All school-based hubs will be closed for the school holidays.

Children's Services

If you’re worried about a child over Christmas and New Year, call the Integrated Front Door on 0151 606 2008 and select option 2, open 9am to 5pm excluding weekends and bank holidays. Out of hours, you can call the Emergency Duty Team on 0151 677 6557. If a child, or anyone else, is at risk of immediate harm, dial 999.

Domestic abuse and family support

Help is available for anyone experiencing domestic abuse or family issues over Christmas and New Year.

Details of the support on offer locally can be found at the #ItsNeverOK website.

Council Tax and benefits support

Customer service lines will close at 5pm on 24 December. They will reopen between 10am and 4pm on 29, 30 and 31 December for emergency financial support and Foodbank vouchers only. Reopen as normal from 2 January 2026.

Crime and safety

Report any crimes or suspicious behaviour via @MerPolCC, 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency always call 999.

Culture

The Floral Pavilion

Floral Pavilion Theatre: Closed 25 December and 1 January 2026. This year’s pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, is running until Sunday 4 January 2026.

Visit the Floral Pavilion website for tickets and more details

Floral Box Office: Telephone line open 23, 27 and 31 December, 10am to 4pm. Counter open 23 December, midday to 4pm. 26, 29 and 30 December, 11.30am to 5.15pm. 27 and 31 December midday to 5.15pm. Closed 25 December and 1 January 2026.

Floral café: Closed on 25 December and 1 January 2026. 24 December, open 9.30am to 4pm. 26 and 31 December, open 9.30am to 5pm (food served until 3pm).

Williamson Art Gallery and Museum

Closed 25 and 26 December and 1 January 2026. Otherwise open Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm (except 24 December, closes 3pm)

Birkenhead Priory

Closes: 4pm on Sunday 21 December, reopens at midday on Wednesday 7 January 2026.

Gritting and winter services

Gritting teams will be on standby 24/7 every day until Spring 2026, including over the festive period.

Highways and street services

Please call 0151 647 7810 to report an out-of-hours emergency relating to:

trees
road and pavement maintenance and repairs
road signs
traffic management
traffic signal faults
fly tipping
highway drainage and flooding
dangerous buildings and structures

Homelessness and Housing

The Housing Options Team will be operating an emergency-only triage service on 29, 30 and 31 December. This service will operate from 9am to 5pm.

Outside of these times/dates and during weekends and public holidays, in an emergency situation, where a household has nowhere safe to stay that night, they should contact the Emergency Duty Team on 0151 677 6557.

If you need housing advice and it isn’t urgent you can make a self-referral to the Housing Options Team via the Wirral Council website.

If you, or anyone you know, sees someone who is sleeping rough then time is of the essence. Please make a referral via rsiteam@birkenheadymca.co.uk or 07821 125119 as soon as possible. This will ensure Wirral’s local outreach team will be able to respond and send staff to engage with the person and offer appropriate support.

Leisure

Invigor8 leisure centres

Closed: 25 and 26 December and 1 January 2026
Closes at 3.30pm (last admittance 3pm) on 24 and 31 December
Open: As normal on 27-30 December and 2 January 2026

Woodchurch Community Football Hub

Closed: 24-26 December, 31 December and 1 January 2026
Open: 27-30 December and 2 January 2026

Municipal golf courses

Closed: 25 and 26 December and 1 January 2026
Open: As normal on 24 December, 27-31 December and 2 January 2026

Wirral Watersports Centre

Closed: From 25 December until 1 January 2026
Open as normal on 24 December and 2 January 2026

All leisure activities are subject to change and customers are advised to check the Active Wirral website for any updates to the schedule

Libraries

All sites closed 25 December to 1 January 2026, then normal operating hours apart from Wallasey Central which will be closed for refurb during January (please see website - Wallasey Central Library | wirral.gov.uk)
Christmas Eve – Greasby and Heswall closed, all other libraries open as normal but close at 4pm

The libraries’ online offer gives you access to renew your books and also to a wide range of e-books, e-audio, e-newspapers and e-magazines. If you haven’t signed up please visit the Wirral libraries web page for information on how to do so. Don’t forget you can use your Wirral Library card and return books to any Wirral library.

Registrars

The Registrar service will be closed on 25 and 26 December, and 1 and 2 January 2026. It will be open on 24 and 31 December between 9am and 3pm and 29 and 30 December (9am-4pm) for registration of deaths only. The service is open as normal from 5 January 2026.

Social media

The council’s social media accounts will not be routinely monitored over the festive period. You might see some key messages posted on those channels, most of which will have been pre-scheduled, but there will be no-one online to reply to queries. The best place to report issues is the Wirral Council website.

Wirral Infobank

Wirral Infobank is an online directory making it easy for Wirral residents to find Christmas support. You can use it to find local help with food, money worries, mental health support, community support, and Christmas activities in your area. All the information is in one place - helping you and your family get the support you need over the festive period: www.wirralinfobank.co.uk

Out of Hours support can be found here - Out of hours support | Wirral InfoBank

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