Blaydon Races 150 - Question Time

In an interview conducted in a secret location:

What is Blaydon Races 150?-

Blaydon Races 150 started out 18 months ago as a campaign group to put pressure on Newcastle and Gateshead Councils to ensure that they provided a proper celebration for the 150th Anniversary of the Geordie Anthem. Now that we are working closely with the Councils we have become proactive in trying to encourage private companies and the General Public to embrace the celebrations.



What do you mean by 'Proper Celebration'? -

We always use this term to describe appropriately scaled content which is relevant to the North East. We want to showcase our rich heritage and culture, which is the equal to any on earth and better than most.

What gave you or whoever, the idea to go ahead with this campaign?-

The initial idea came from a friend of mine Aidan, who I had got back in touch with after many years via Facebook. He was having an on-line rant about it all, and I thought he was spot on...you'll need to ask him what provoked his initial rant though.

Has the campaign got much support?-

The initial meeting we held 18 months ago wasn't exactly a roaring success. Only 3 of us turned up!! But since then our core group has grown to 8 people. We have over 2000 signatures on our petition, 2200+ followers on Twitter and nearing 1000 followers on Facebook. In addition we have had a Parliamentary Petition read out in the House of Commons by Labout MP Chi Onwurah. The media has started taking a lot of interest both locally and nationally.

What can the normal man,woman or child off the street do to help?-

Support the events, come along, enjoy and take pride in the North East culture. We want 9th June to be as significant to Tyneside as St Patrick's Day is to Ireland. There's going to be a big event at the Monument and one at Blaydon on the afternoon of the 9th. Bring the kids along, dress them up, teach them the song, pass on the heritage and insist we repeat this every year!!

Has NUFC given much support to the cause?-

We've had dialogue with the NUFC Foundation and wanted them to have a charity ball. For whatever reason that didn't come off this year. Hopefully we'll be able to persuade them in 2013. On the plus side, it looks like we will have an ex-NUFC legend involved in the celebrations in the week leading up to the 9th, but I'm not allowed to say much about that for a few weeks. Watch this space.

The interview continues.....

Watch this space.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.