Taking advantage of age-old Parliamentary tradition, Newcastle MP Chi Onwurah today submitted a 300 signature petition to Parliament calling on the House of Commons to throw its weight behind a campaign to honour next year’s 150 year anniversary of the world famous North East anthem, Blaydon Races.
Submitting the petition to the House of Commons, Ms Onwurah said:
“Like many who grew up in the North East, the first song I remember learning to sing was the Blaydon Races. It’s such an important part of our history and culture and we must do all we can to ensure that the anniversary is properly celebrated.”
Proud Geordie Aidan Oswell of the Blaydon Races 150 Organising Group – who are leading the campaign for a proper celebration said:
“I’d like to extend heartfelt thanks to Chi for getting involved at an early stage and driving forward this part of campaign. We have been in dialogue with both Newcastle and Gateshead Councils over recent months. They have agreed to put on an event to celebrate the anniversary in principle. But they’ve also thrown down the gauntlet to the community and businesses to come together and make it even bigger.”
The Parliamentary petition was put together by the Blaydon Races 150 Organising Group. Their wider campaign has attracted more than 3,000 supporters via an online petition, Facebook Group and through Twitter. The submission of the Parliamentary petition is a key milestone in a process which will run until 9th June 2012 – the anniversary of the date mentioned in George Ridley’s famous song. And assuming it is successful, it should see Britain’s best city beaming with Geordie pride when the event comes around.