New artwork helps mark charity's 130th anniversary

The exhibition has been on display at Tynemouth Metro Station over the last three months across the iconic footbridge.

In collaboration with Vistry Partnerships and Mott MacDonald, the exhibition is part of the charity’s 130th anniversary celebrations and shares insights into the early beach trips of the 1890’s and its infamous Sandcastle Challenge.

The exhibition was thought up as a creative way to keep alive the legacy of the Sandcastle Challenge, which has been run for over 25 years, after the pandemic stopped it from going ahead in 2021.

Hayley Bell, social value coordinator at Vistry Partnerships, said: “We have been proud supporters of the Challenge for the last eight years, so it felt important to work with Children North East to celebrate the Sandcastle Challenge during their anniversary year.

"Vistry are passionate about playing an active role in local communities and it spoke to those values to remind people that the community is still here, even if we can’t be on the beach together building sandcastles.”

In the spirit of the challenge, schools were asked to build bridges, with the winning designs included as part of the exhibition display.

Leanne Nicholson, business development and marketing lead at Mott MacDonald, said: “It’s been great to see students across the North East harness the spirit of Sandcastle Challenge by putting their problem-solving and creativity to the test in the bridge challenge.”

The exhibition will be running until the end of January.