Celebrating the achievements of those who took part in this year's Great North Run

Hi Sunshine news readers,

What a whirlwind of a week it’s been.

It has been a sad week for our nation as we mourn the loss of Queen Elizabeth II, however, we must also celebrate the achievement of the tens of thousands of people who laced up their trainers, dug out their safety pins and took part in the GNR.

As a North East charity, we are filled with pride every year to see so many people going above and beyond for charities close to their hearts by taking to our streets and completing the world's most iconic half marathon. They are all heroes in our eyes, and we couldn't imagine a more fitting tribute to Her Majesty than to applaud Sunday's event and the phenomenal amounts raised for both local and national charities.

We plan to celebrate the highlights from the GNR and Team Sunshine, alongside our sponsors, True Potential, in next week's column.

Unfortunately, this year's Junior, Mini, Mini 50 and Wheelchair GNR events were postponed, however we want to also celebrate the achievement of Team Mini Sunshine, who although didn't cross the finish line this weekend, are still our champions. We know how hard you have trained, sometimes against the odds and in difficult circumstances.

We thank you all for your fundraising efforts you little legends. Great Run have announced that the rescheduled date for the Junior and Mini GNR will be Saturday, October 8. If you had a place secured this year, please check your emails for more information.

It's always a positive week in the office when we hear from two cheeky chappies, our long serving charity patrons, Ant and Dec who sent us a very special message to share with our ball guests later this month. Their ability to effortlessly reel off ABBA puns in their personal video message, got us thinking that they are both secretly ABBA ‘Super Trooper’ fans!

They have also kindly donated a incredible prize, to meet the charming duo backstage at a Saturday Night Takeaway show in 2023, which could be yours if you’re attending our Mamma Mia Ball on Friday, September 30.

We have our final few tables remaining if you’d like to buy a table or individual tickets to attend alongside our ball partners St James’ Square Law Firm at the Grand Hotel Gosforth Park. Contact our Fundraising and Events Coordinator, Erin, for more information (erin.todd@thesunshinefund.org).

We’re also looking ahead to next week when we’ll be hosting yet another dedicated Sunshine Families event at the Metrocentre Community Hub. Whilst we love to offer fun, accessible and inclusive events for our children to attend, this session is tailored to parents and carers of children with disabilities and additional needs.

We will be joined by our friends from Irwin Mitchell who will be on hand to offer free welfare benefit checks, to suit personal circumstances of parents and carers. Our friends from XL Health will also be joining us and giving free training and support on Paediatric first aid, with tailored advice for complex medical conditions.

We are so grateful to both Irwin Mitchell and XL Health for donating their time to this session as finance and first aid are two big topics for our Sunshine Families and it’s important to us that we can offer support in these areas. If you are the parent or carer of a child, under the age of 19, who has a disability, terminal illness, or additional need, you can join our private Facebook group, Sunshine Fund Families, where you can find out more about events like this in the future.

That’s all from us this week, wishing you a peaceful weekend.

Siobhan

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