Sunderland Echo

City is in the running

- By Richard Ord

Go on you moaners, get it out of your system.

Sunderland isn’t good enough to win the UK City of Culture.

Too many closed down shops, a city run into the ground by political and social mismanagem­ent, not enough investment and, of course, far too many Greggs shops.

There, feeling better now?

The keyboard warriors with an axe to grind have been having their say on Sunderland being shortliste­d for the UK City of Culture 2021, and it doesn’t make for pleasant reading.

The irony is, some of those negative comments on our Facebook page that I have repeated above, could be applied to any of the of areas shortliste­d in the City of Culture and they’d be supported by sections of those communitie­s.

There is no such thing as the perfect city, and Sunderland and the people who live and work here, are sensible enough to know their city’s limitation­s.

What counts is knowing your strengths and building on your ambitions.

As one Facebook follower put it “Yeah, Sunderland isn’t exactly Knightsbri­dge, but it’s our city and place of birth. I’m proud of that. I hope we win it.” She was not alone. For every negative comment there were at least three positive ones, many hoping the city would win out.And why shouldn’t Sunderland win?

Hull are the current holders, and few would have thought Hull and culture would make great bedfellows in years gone by.

Since winning the title in 2013, Hull has enjoyed more than £1billion in investment.

How Sunderland would love a slice of that pie! Well, we’re in the running now ... so let’s get behind the bid.

Stop wining and start winning.

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