I am not in love with Sunderland.
I never shopped, did much business or socialised in Sunderland.
I certainly do not support Sunderland Associated Football Club.
In fact, I had no real affinity with Sunderland at all, until I came to work here two years ago.
Well, that’s not entirely true actually. My dad was a dyed-in-the-wool Sunderland fan, as are both my elder brothers. I enraged them from an early age by donning my mother’s colours, which, of course, are black and white – hey, Peter Beardsley and Kevin Keegan were far more of a football turn-on than Ruben Agboola and Paul Lemon!
So, in short, my main experience of anything to do with Sunderland was, like so many, borne from football rivalry!
You could pretty much sum-up my Sunderland experience in three sentences:
- As a reporter, I covered a couple of Sunderland stories.
- I obviously hate derby games.
- I used to go out with a lass from East Herrington.
Looking back, all three fairly grim experiences.
So, when I accepted a role with the world’s greatest PR agency – Creo Communications, as if you didn’t know! – one of my first priorities was a crash course in all things mackem.
Fortunately, my new boss is an uber-mackem… I honestly believe that if you took her out of the city for more than 24 hours, she’d start to evaporate in red and white steam.
It was as if my Sunder-cation was written in the stars, the first PR contract we bid for was focused on the promotion of the city and the vibrant things happening across it.
During research for the presentation I learned of the Lewis Carroll connection, how it inspired Lowry, it was the city of Dave Stewart and Bob Willis…I was introduced to the amazing graffiti of Sunniside and the amazing work of the Salvation Army in Swan House and the amazing success of Leighton Group and the amazing supply chain around Nissan. We pulled together our PR proposals between mouthfuls of Egyptian food at Arabesque…I have to admit, I was starting to like the place.
Of course, we won the work and I’m also proud to boast we won the work managing the PR for the the 2021 City of Culture bid…I’m getting quite used to shouting about the good things happening across this city by the sea (think of another English city by the sea– bet you get Liverpool and then draw a blank!).
Over the last two years, it has been my pleasure to work alongside Sunderland educators, Sunderland sportsmen and women, the Sunderland business community, Sunderland traders, Sunderland restaurateurs, Sunderland charities, Sunderland artists and Sunderland musicians and what unites them all is a passion for the city they live, work and party in.
The city has an independent spirit that sets it apart from others. It has a self-deprecating humour that allows mackems to laugh at themselves and criticise the city, but woe-betide anyone from outside the Houghton Gap who dares do likewise.
I have endured many a football derby defeat in my time in Sunderland, but it hasn’t dampened my admiration for a city that has been largely ignored by the rest of the country for decades and continued to grow its cultural scene.
I may not be in love with Sunderland, but I bloody well enjoy coming here. I admire its pluck, its passion and its downright revelling in being something of an underdog.
Winning City of Culture 2021 would bring people to this eclectic, unique, salty city by the seaside…and once they were here, they’d admire it too…and I believe they’d come back, some might even stay.
Sunderland doesn’t need to be named City of Culture to celebrate its culture, but the UK would be a poorer place if more people didn’t experience this amazing place.
–Bryn Littleton (Accounts Director at Creo Communications)
