FAMILIES who have missed out on meet and greets with Father Christmas this year due to the ongoing Coronavirus restrictions will be offered video calls. EVERY weekend, Father Christmas will be talking to children about their gift wish lists all from the comfort of their homes through a Zoom call, […]
Culture and Entertainment
What’s your favourite Christmas song?
DECEMBER is finally well under way, which means that you can play all your favourite Christmas songs without fear of judgement. We’ve been asking our readers – and some of the North East’s most musical people – to share their favourite Christmas songs. FRANKIE Francis, lead singer in the […]
Sunderland Pride to host virtual Christmas party this weekend
SUNDERLAND Pride are set to put on a virtual Christmas Party after having to cancel their annual summer event due to Covid-19. THE Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on most people, and that includes those within the LGBT+ community. A summer that should have been filled with […]
Futureheads frontman launches ‘future music stars’ programme at UoS
A PIONEERING music programme which will nurture, develop, and produce the music artists – and perhaps the chart-toppers – of the future is set to launch at the University of Sunderland. The BA (Hons) Modern Music Industries course will be led by some of the North East’s most prolific musicians. The […]
Hansel and Gretel show goes on in socially-distanced tent across region
WITH entertainment venues having to remain closed due to Covid-19, theatre company Theatre Space North East have come up with the idea of hosting socially-distanced shows in mobile tents at locations across the North East. AFTER receiving help from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund, the Sunderland-based theatre company Theatre […]
Student wins prestigious ‘Best Dissertation Award’ for gaming representation study
A STUDY which shines a light on racial and gender stereotypes in the billion-dollar gaming industry has led to a graduation prize for a Sunderland Masters student. Kirsty Evers wanted to better understand the attitudes of players towards the protagonists within character-focused video games, who are commonly white, straight and […]
“I was on the phone to Margaret Atwood while having a Covid test!”
WHAT do Margaret Atwood, Dame Emma Thompson and Lily Cole all have in common? They are all set to take part in a global literary event organised by a University of Sunderland academic. Dr Alex Lockwood has helped organise the get-together as part of Lost Species Day, to bring global […]
We love the NHS – but there’s a new ‘elf service’ in town for Christmas!
WITH a large number of Christmas events being cancelled, Sunderland-born dancer Jennifer Foulds has found a way of bringing the festive magic directly to your front door in a Covid-safe way. JENNIFER Foulds, 27, is used to working in performing arts, but – along with so many of her […]
Gender-ally speaking, it’s not helpful to generalise, says UoS psychologist
INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY On International Men’s Day (today) Dr Rebecca Owens from Sunderland’s School of Psychology discusses how issues facing men in 2020 are often hidden behind a wall of silence. MEN and women have always faced different challenges in relation to pretty much all areas of life: the […]
Christmas for shoppers and families in Sunderland now a virtual reality
Following the success of the monster trail to mark Halloween, Sunderland Bid is now creating a virtual Christmas full of magical creatures. Sam Boal went to meet some of them. DUE to coronavirus, the run-up to Christmas is different to most years – but there are still plenty of […]