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YOUNG SPORTS SET A SHINING EXAMPLE

15 April 2010

Students Organise Dinner And Auction For Our Charity

SPORTS students are set to give the Chronicle’s Sunshine Fund a boost. A dedicated team from Northumbria University are organising a celebrity sports dinner and auction to help the fund raise money for children with learning and physical disabilities.

The charity event will be attended by 130 lucky guests who will all be escorted to their seats by Gateshead Thunder players.

The night was arranged by sport management students Oscar Rogers, Kathryn Benn, Alex Rayner, Ellie Szunko, Joseph Smith and Christopher Jones as part of their course.

The group hope to raise at least £2,000 for the Chronicle charity through ticket sales and an auction.

Gateshead Thunder Rugby League Club head coach Chris Hood will host the event, which will see guest speaker Stephen Miller and sports impersonator Leslie Gibson entertain diners.

Known as The Man Of A Thousand Voices, Leslie will impersonate the likes of Beckham, Shearer, Keegan, Hansen, Benitez and Jose Mourinho. The night will include a three-course meal followed by top entertainment, live music and a memorabilia auction. Diners will also be treated to a drinks wine reception before proceedings get under way.

Guest speaker and Paralympic champion Stephen Miller, from Cramlington, Northumberland, will then take to the stage. Stephen is a dedicated patron of the Sunshine Fund and will start the charity’s ninth annual Sunshine Run on July 7. Every year individuals, families and groups from across the region run the 5k event. From the starting line near the Millennium Bridge, competitors will be heading along the quayside path to Newcastle Business Park, before doubling back to cross the bridge and across the finish in Baltic Square, on the Gateshead side. Last year more than 400 people helped to make the family fun run a success, raising much-needed cash along the way.

As the Chronicle’s official charity, the Sunshine Fund has helped thousands of youngsters across the region.
It helps improve the lives of sick and disabled children by providing special equipment.

Thousands of readers raise cash for the charity every year by taking part in events such as Sunshine Fund Santa Run, Triathlon and Fun Run.

More than £1,000,000 worth of equipment has been donated to children in the North East by the Sunshine Fund since the charity was launched in 1995. It is hoped that the celebrity sports dinner will raise thousands more to add to the cause.

The event will be held at Newcastle’s Life Centre on April 24 from 7pm until 1am.

To buy tickets to the dinner, contact Debbie Wilde on 0191 201 6090 or by e-mailing debbie.wilde@ncjmedia.co.uk.


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