Wearside stories you might have missed this week

20 July 2025

News image — The crane family had been bonding away from visitors since the chick's birth in May

Ian Henderson The crane chick standing next to one of its parents which towers above it. The older crane has long black legs and a large white body with a white, black and red head. They are standing next to a wire fence. — The crane family had been bonding away from visitors since the chick's birth in May

The demise of a crane chick, news of the Glass Centre's last exhibition, and a mother's water safety plea.

Here are some stories from Wearside you might have missed this week.

Glass centre to exhibit graduate work in last show

The National Glass Centre is a tall building made of metal panels and glass, overlooking the River Wear. There is seating space and a cafe in front of it, with a dog walker in the distance. — The National Glass Centre's last exhibition will open in January

The National Glass Centre has invited former graduates to take part in its final exhibition.

The show, called The Graduates, is expected to run at the Sunderland venue from January until its closure in July 2026.

The centre is looking to showcase the work of people who completed a BA(Hons), MA or PhD programme in glass and ceramics at the University of Sunderland.

Read more about this story here.

Centre's first crane chick in three years dies

Owen Wright A picture of the crane chick, which is yellow-brown and fluffy. It is standing next to a wire fence. — The common crane chick was just the second to hatch to its parents

A common crane chick that was the first to have hatched at a nature reserve for three years died earlier this month.

The bird was just the second to hatch to its parents, which have been at WWT Washington Wetland Centre, near Sunderland, since 2008.

Vets are working to identify a possible cause of the chick's death, whose arrival followed months of flirting, nest building and prospecting by the adult birds.

Read about the crane chick here.

Fans' personalised bricks moved in stadium upgrade

SAFC A wall of brown bricks. More than 100 of the bricks have names written on them. A larger block at the top of the section has Wall of Fame Panel S5 written on it. There is a black door next to the panel, with a red media sign on it. — The bricks are located near the Stadium of Light's media facilities

A football club will move more than 160 personalised fans' bricks as it upgrades its media facilities ahead of its first Premier League season in eight years.

Sunderland AFC said the blocks, located in panel S5 on the Jimmy Montgomery Stand at the Stadium of Light, would be placed outside the main entrance.

The installation is expected to take place within the next two to three months.

Read more on this story here.

Mum's water safety plea decade on from son's death

Fiona Gosling is standing on the bank of the River Wear which is bordered on on side by trees, with a green field on the other. She has brown hair, which is tied back, and is wearing a black fleece. She has an expression that shows a mixture of worry and sadness. — Fiona Gosling returned to the River Wear to warn young people about the dangers of water

A mother pleaded with youngsters to listen to safety advice in warm weather as the school summer holidays start, 10 years after her son died.

Cameron Gosling, 14, from Crook, experienced cold water shock when he jumped into the River Wear near Bishop Auckland on a hot day in July 2015.

His mother, Fiona Gosling, has spent the years since going into schools to teach children about acclimatising themselves to the water temperature before going in fully.

She said losing her child meant "every time you lock the door you know that one of your kids is never coming back through".