A North East health charity has teamed up with two of the region’s big running events to motivate its team members and the wider public to get active. STS Charity, the dedicated charity of South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, will be the official health partner for the Sunderland City Runs and Tidal Trails events for the next two years. Athletics legend Steve Cram founded both events and met with representatives of STS Charity on Monday to discuss how they can work together to inspire more people to take up running as part of a healthier lifestyle. After a chat and question and answer session at Fausto Coffee in Sunderland, Steve was joined by a group of the charity’s supporters for a run.
The Sunderland City Runs weekend is well established on the North East sports calendar and includes the popular Sunderland City Half Marathon, 10K and Active Sunderland BIG 3K, all on routes in and around the city centre. This year’s runs will be held on Sunday 11 May. Tidal Trails is a new family oriented event for 2025, and will take over the beach and famous Leas in South Shields on Sunday 17 August, with 2K and 8K trail races, sand sprints, and Paula Radcliffe’s Families on Track initiative, which gives family groups the opportunity to get active together in a safe and fun environment. Both events are being organised by Events of the North, in partnership with Sunderland City Council and South Tyneside Council respectively.
STS Charity works with the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust to raise money for the big and small things that are above and beyond what the NHS would fund, but make a huge difference to patients, families, visitors and staff. This includes equipment that enhances patient care, and improving facilities which provide a better experience for those accessing services of working across the trust. Employee wellness and physical activity are priorities for the trust, and employees are being encouraged to take part in both events. The trust also hopes that many of them will raise funds for STS Charity, to support the wide range of work that it does.
Events of the North and STS Charity will work together closely to promote their partnership and the wide ranging physical and mental health benefits of getting active through running.
Steve Cram comments: “We’ve been organising the Sunderland City Runs for nearly 15 years and one of the most rewarding aspects of every event is witnessing those participants who complete their first race of any sort. Once they’ve started on that journey in running, most will continue and will be happy to tell anyone about how their physical and mental health has improved through being active. Teaming up with STS Charity is going to be a brilliant vehicle to take those positive messages to even more people, both in Sunderland, and at Tidal Trails in South Shields, where we aim to inspire family groups of all ages to join us and get active together.”
Jade English is an internal engagement officer at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. Jade will be participating in the Sunderland City 10K in May and comments: “I only started running last year and wanted to challenge myself in 2025 and do something I’ve never done before. I’ve decided to take on the Sunderland City 10K to support STS Charity and raise funds for Sunderland Royal Hospital, for the Phoenix Unit and Ward B28, as this is where my dad has been treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“Running and movement have played a monumental part in helping me remain positive and managing my mental health while supporting my dad throughout his illness, from diagnosis to now (hopefully) recovery and remission. Doing the Sunderland City 10K and pulling a team of women together to run it with me, will be a fantastic way to not only challenge myself by doing something I’ve never done before, but also give something back to the hospital that has helped my dad on his cancer journey. I also have an even closer connection to the charity as I work for South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, which means I frequently see and hear about the amazing work that the STS Charity does and how that benefits our patients and staff.”
Chris Cairns is a nurse consultant at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. Chris will be taking on the Sunderland City Half Marathon in May and comments: “I have been running regularly over the last 10 years around the parks to keep me fit, but since the pandemic, I have not been as fit or fast as in 2019. It was then that I set my half marathon personal best of one hour and 33 minutes at the Sunderland City Half Marathon. I had hoped to beat this at last year’s Great North Run, but my training was completely derailed by illness. Now I’m hoping to achieve that objective back in Sunderland. I am not quite as on track as I would like to be at the moment, so I am pushing myself hard to increase my pace. I work in older persons’ care, mainly with people who have dementia or delirium, and I plan to raise funds for The Older People’s Improvement Collaborative (TOPIC), one of our STS Charity funds that supports care on our older persons’ wards.”
Entries are open for this year’s Sunderland City Runs at www.sunderlandcity10k.com and for the first edition of Tidal Trails at www.tidaltrails.co.uk.
Anyone who would like to run in either event to support STS Charity should contact the charity team on 0191 565 6256, ext: 42946, or stsft.charity@nhs.net. Information about the charity and ways to donate can be found at www.stsft.nhs.uk/our-charity.
