Save the date for the 2023 Ball

Hi Sunshine News readers,

We hope you are enjoying the first signs of spring and the beautiful (Long awaited!) sunshine we have seen this week!

It definitely gives us hope that brighter days and warmer times are ahead and makes us excited for the events we have planned this year. Our team have been out and about hand delivering save the dates for this years ball.

Last week we updated you on this years trek challenges and the fabulous and fanciful events our trek teams have already arranged in order to raise funds for us and prepare themselves for their mammoth challenges. We want to say a HUGE thank you to all at Apartment Group who are supporting our trekkers in generating funds through a fabulous quiz and karaoke at The Holy Hobo in March.

You will be hearing from our trek teams at various points, including Apartment Group’s very own Business Development Manager, Rachelle Jacques who has always been one of our biggest cheerleaders, as they share their journeys and prepare to push themselves to their very limits in order to support our charity and ensure that North East children with disabilities get the equipment they need. We couldn’t be prouder of them all.

As regular readers and supporters know, here at The Sunshine Fund we pride ourselves on being advocates for accessibility and are grateful to be able to facilitate new experiences and inclusive events for children and families with access needs. So we were beyond proud to work with England Netball on the first ever Sunshine Sports Festival which took place at Northumbria University’s fantastic Sports Central this week.

It was the first of its kind for our region as accessible and adapted sports offerings usually only facilitate basketball and football, however once we introduced the idea to our partner schools and education organisations locally, it was clear there is a real passion for netball in our region. This free event saw over 40 children and young adults aged from 10 to 18, with a variety of additional and complex needs who attend SEND Schools from across our region join the professionals for a fun day of netball skills and adapted games so everyone could be involved and experience the game.

England Netball staff led the day ensuring that all of the children involved got the opportunity to learn new about passing, shooting and defending and ask questions about the sport as well as taking part in a match to end the event. It really was great fun and we will have some photos to share with you all next week!

Thank you to all at England Netball North East, Northumbria Sports Central and our good friends at Smile for Sport for making this event possible.

Next week we will launch this years Sunshine Run with Stagecoach North East and this campaign is extra special as 2023 marks 20 years of this iconic and much loved event! Preparation to mark the occasion is well underway and we can’t wait to share the details with you all.

Do you have any special Sunshine Run memories to share? We would love to hear from you if you are a past runner or supporter of the campaign.

Wishing you all a wonderful half term.

Siobhan

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