Beacon of Light turns one

The award-winning sports and education building has now been open for over a year, providing opportunities for thousands of people across Sunderland to improve their lives. In the newly launched Beacon Booklet, we take a look at our first year and what a year it has been! From the official opening in March 2019 by HRH Countess of Wessex, with Sir Tim Rice hosting our Gala Dinner, to watching local musician – Marty Longstaff and the Lake Poets – play to 3,500 people in our SAFC Fan Zone on Boxing Day. Alongside those fantastic events, we have hosted thousands of school children, young people and adults across a range of education and sports projects in our Sir Tom Cowie Education Zone, our Vardy Foundation Health and Wellbeing Zone as well as in our state of the art sports facilities including our 3G 5 a side football pitches, rooftop 4G pitch and Indoor Arena. The Beacon Booklet reviews our successes and some of the incredible work which has been undertaken. Foundation of Light Chief Executive Lesley Spuhler said: “The Beacon of Light is a truly unique space which has the people of Sunderland firmly at its heart. It has captured the imaginations of so many people, with thousands coming through its door each week.

After so many years of planning and fundraising, I am proud to walk into this building every day and see the difference it is making to so many local lives.

“There have been so many special moments but possibly the most impactful is the day to day ebb and flow of the building as multi-generations of families learn together; spend time together; and stay healthy together. “As we look to the future, we must continue to ensure that the building’s potential is met, allowing us to re-invest in our communities, through the Foundation of Light.” To download a copy of our Beacon Booklet visit www.issuu.com/foundationoflight.