07/04/2026
Sunderland Echo readers make Easter special for kids in need
By Tom Patterson
Published 4th Apr 2026, 10:00 BST
More than 4,000 needy youngsters are getting an Easter treat this weekend – thanks to you!
Echo readers and local businesses have served up over 3,500 Easter eggs, chocolate treats and toys – worth mor than £15,500 – in our annual Easter Egg Appeal.
Every year, the Echo and Wearside charity Hope 4 Kidz asks readers to step up for our Easter Egg Appeal – providing a treat for some of our most vulnerable children and, once again, you have answered that call magnificently.
The eggs have already been delivered to local charities, refuges, homeless units, hospitals and special needs centres in time for Easter Sunday.
Viv Watts, chief executive of Hope 4 Kidz, was at Sunderland Royal Hospital on Thursday to deliver the Easter treats to young patients.
She said: “People in Sunderland have again been very generous, which is amazing considering the current economic climate.
“Thanks to them, we have again been able to bring a smile to the faces of children facing major challenges or being treated in hospital.
"The kindness of people in this are never ceases to amaze the trustees and volunteers at Hope 4 Kidz and, once again, it is fantastic the way they have rallied to support more children this year.”
She added: “On behalf of our beneficiaries, I thank each and every one of you for your support.”
This year, eggs and toys were donated to organisations including Impact Family Services, Together for Children, My Harbour Durham and Peterlee, Academy 360, Place for People, Epinay School, Centre Point, Harrogate Foundation Trust Outreach, SNYP Southwick, The Special Lionesses, Family Outreach South Tyneside, Pennywell Community Centre, Peace of Mind, Hope Springs, the Teenage Cancer Trust, and the Naill Quinn Children’s Centre.
Easter eggs were also provided for youngsters at Sunderland Royal Hospital, South Tyneside District Hospital, The Palmer Community Hospital in Jarrow, and The Haygarth Ward at Sunderland Eye Infirmary.
Laura Hayden-Duck, paediatric and child health matron at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We have been overwhelmed with the generosity of the Sunderland Echo and Hope 4 Kids' Easter Egg Appeal and all the support it's been given by readers.
"Our team has done a fantastic job of sending them out to our children's services across our Trust, meaning children can have a treat when they come into visit for their appointment or if they're staying with us as an inpatient.
"We'd like to send our thanks to everyone who gave their support to the appeal."
Dozens of businesses in the area also got behind in the appeal this year – providing drop off points or promoting it among their staff and clients.
These include Arriva, Asada Boldon and Grangetown, Assett 55, Brenntag UK & Ireland, Café Mio South Shields, Christ College, Hays Travel Vine Place, Housing 21, HSBC Bank, Morrisons Doxford and Seaburn, Barclays Bank Fawcett Street, Natwest Bank Fawcett Street, Peter Heron Estate Agents, Poundland The Gate, Sainsburys Silksworth, Wessington Way and Washington, The Northeast BIC, The Hub Washington, Siemens Energy, Rolls-Royce PLC, The Gym Group South Shields Northern Gas Networks.
The appeal was run in conjunction with the Echo’s sister paper, the Shields Gazette.
LINK TO FULL ARTICLE: https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/people/sunderland-echo-readers-make-easter-special-for-kids-in-need-6563179
