Wearside and County Durham stories from this week

5 October 2025

News image — Sally TM wore a Metro-themed dress on RuPaul's Drag Race

Nexus Sally TM posing to the right of one of the new dark yellow Metro trains. She has short, brown hair which is curled underneath, with a streak of yellow dye at the front. A piece of yellow hair is standing up above her head. She is wearing a yellow dress, which is lighter than the train, which is made up of a corset with silver accents and a tulle skirt which is short at the front and long at the back. She is also wearing a yellow collar around her neck and black long gloves. — Sally TM wore a Metro-themed dress on RuPaul's Drag Race

A Drag Race star paying homage to the North East, rising costs resulting in a shorter light festival and plans to install a statue of a World War Two hero in a park.

Here are some stories from Wearside and County Durham you may have missed this week.

Family of murdered toddler plea for law change

Supplied Maya with her mouth wide open while sitting on a swing. She has short blonde hair and brown eyes. She is wearing a pink Minnie Mouse top. — Maya was two when she died

The family of a murdered toddler say they want a new law created in her name to protect other children.

Maya Chappell, who lived in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, suffered severe brain damage when she was violently shaken by her mother's boyfriend, Michael Daymond.

Maya's great aunt, Gemma Chappell, said the toddler, who died in hospital, would "still be alive today" if laws disclosing a parent or a caregiver's history were in place.

Find out more about what Maya's family want to achieve here

RuPaul's Drag Race star slays with Metro dress

Nexus Sally TM pointing at the destination on the side of the grey and yellow Metro, which is South Shields. She has a shocked look on her face. — Sally TM took inspiration from the Tyne and Wear Metro

Start your Metro engines...

A drag queen featuring on the new series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK wanted to pay homage to her home region, taking inspiration from the Tyne and Wear Metro for one of her looks.

Sally TM, 27 and from South Shields, said she wanted to "pay tribute to something which has been so instrumental and iconic in the story" of north-east England and wore the yellow-and-black dress when the seventh season aired on BBC Three on 25 September.

Take a trip here for more

Mum devastated as charity base destroyed in arson

Toni Mathieson, who has blonde hair and is wearing a black hoody with the words NPUK in white printed on its front, stands in front of the burnt out ruins of her charity's office building. It is blackened by smoke and there is grey metal temporary fencing in front. — Toni Mathieson was inspired to lead the charity after losing three of her children to the disease Niemann-Pick

A mother who leads a charity for rare diseases in memory of her three children has described the destruction of its office in an arson attack as "devastating".

Toni Mathieson said everything turned to ash after a deliberate fire ripped through the base of Niemann-Pick UK (NPUK) in Vermont House, Washington, on 10 September.

The charity has been offered a free temporary base in Sunderland, although family records have been destroyed and a 24/7 helpline for families has been cut off.

Read more about what Toni has to say here

Plans to install war hero statue in park

Daft as a Brush A computer generated image of the statue in a park. The statue is silver and bronze and shows a man handing a homemade banjo to a young boy. The man is emaciated and wearing shorts and an open shirt with his chest visible. It depicts prisoner of war Len Gibson and a Burmese boy. — Charity Daft as a Brush has submitted plans to install the Ray Lonsdale statue in South Shields

Plans have been submitted to install a statue celebrating a World War Two hero in a park.

Cancer charity Daft as a Brush has applied to South Tyneside Council to give Ray Lonsdale's statue of prisoner of war Len Gibson a permanent home in South Shields.

The statue depicts Mr Gibson, who was from Sunderland and imprisoned on the Burma Death Railway by the Japanese, handing a homemade banjo to a Burmese boy.