Northumberland Day is Gathering 2023 Momentum

Northumberland Day will this year be celebrated on Sunday, May 28, with a Northumberlandia 'Gathering' planned and a variety of initiatives to help get the party started.

And all is this year also benefiting from the promotional help of an ardent young Northumberland Day supporter.

Last year, Northumberland Day ran a Poster Stars competition, seeking someone who could become its poster person for 2023.  That prize has gone to young Finley Harris-Pugh, who has been waving the flag for Northumberland Day every year since he was a nipper in his pram!  

Finley now features on the Northumberland Day poster, which highlights all the things going on and urges people to show pride in their county.

This year, there will be a lot of focus on the Lady of the North – both in terms of Northumberlandia, near Cramlington, whose sculpture is often known as the Lady of the North, and wonderful and amazing women in their communities, who truly deserve that title.

Northumberland Day has already launched a search for a Lady of the North, by inviting members of the public to put forward nominations of individuals who they feel deserve some special recognition, thanks to their selfless attitude and the things they do for others. 

Nominations have been flooding in, with names already in the hat for possible winners of a special Northumberland Day ‘Northumbie’ Award, plus a voucher for afternoon tea at Langley Castle Hotel near Haydon Bridge and a voucher to spend on shoes, trainers or accessories at Cocorose London.

This ties in with a ‘Northumberland Day Gathering’, to be staged at Northumberlandia at 11am on Sunday May 28, when organisers would like to see people taking part in an official photo that will mark the day.  One face, who features in the official photo, will win a prize of £100, whilst a child who features will be able to take home a very special prize – an Oswaldain Bear.

Oswaldain is the cheeky brother of Northumberland Day mascot, Northumbear, and one of a little bunch of friends already much-loved by children.  This will be the first time that one of Northumbear’s buddies have been offered as a prize, so it is hoped that he will go to a very good home.

It is also hoped to organise a rock hunt contest on the day but organisers are currently seeking volunteers happy to get involved for a couple of hours to assist. 

The site and wildlife of Northumberlandia have also inspired Northumberland Day’s 2023 education pack, which is downloadable from the website and which features iconic Northumberland wildlife.  There are also accompanying downloadable worksheets, which parents or children can use, with these providing some games and colouring challenges, as well as more serious classroom activities.

The same theme relating to Northumberlandia runs through this year’s Northumbear’s Writing Contest, available to children entering through their school or to individual children whose entries are privately submitted by parents.  

According to their age, children can write a postcard to Northumbear or draw him a picture of Northumberlandia or wildlife, write a letter to the little bear, talking about their favourite local wildlife, or write a longer piece about the view from Northumberlandia (literal or imaginary).  They could also write a creative piece that imagines that Northumberland has broken away from the mainland and is now an island.

This also links to a Stupendous Northumberland Island art competition, for which there is a prize for a school entry but also another category open to anyone to enter.  This is Northumberland Day’s version of the iconic Tracy Island project, famously launched by Blue Peter’s Anthea Turner, and invites people to reach for egg cartons, pipe cleaners and anything else they want to use, to create either a Northumberland Island that represents the county today, or a Northumberland Island with imaginary elements.

There will also be two more Northumbie Awards up for grabs, with these wonderful and much-coveted awards being designed by local glass artist, Helen Grierson. One will go to the Most Passionate School and another will go to the parish or community group that bests represents itself at the official Northumberland Day photo.

There is then the return of the Northumberland Flag Challenge, which invites people to picture themselves in an unexpected or unusual location, flying the Northumberland Flag.  There is a prize for the best photo.

Organiser of the activity, Jane Hunt, says, “We have limited private means and resource but are doing all we can to keep Northumberland Day alive as an annual celebration.  We hope to see people for the official photo on Sunday May 28 and pick out our two winners from faces in the crowd.  We also hope to be able to crown lots of other winners soon, once we have reviewed entries for all our competitions and Northumbie Awards.  

“Head to the Facebook or Twitter page or our website at www.northumberlandday.co.uk to find out more and use the hashtag of #NorthumberlandDay when celebrating on the day with your best images from around the county.”

Ends

Editors notes

Northumberland Day is the county day of Northumberland, England and is a celebration privately organised by Jane Hunt, of Catapult PR, with the help of many passionate Northumbrian people and businesses, not to mention schools and community groups. It takes place on the Sunday before the Northumberland County Show each May. The date for 2020 is Sunday May 24th and the date for 2020 will be Sunday May 30.