Gracious in defeat but Sunderland stays proud
Sunderland may have lost its bid to be City of Culture 2021 – but Mackems everywhere showed they are not sore losers.
Excitement was rife as people gathered across the city waiting for last night’s announcement.
Members of the bid team were joined by councillors, MPs, authors, musicians, and a large media presence at the city’s Pop Recs venue.
On hearing Coventry had been crowned the winner, the first thing on people’s minds was to congratulate the West Midlands city on its success with a round of applause.
And while there was initial disappointment, the mood quickly turned to the enormous legacy of the work that was put into the City of Culture bid.
Coun John Kelly, Portfolio Holder for Public Health, Wellness and Culture at Sunderland City Council, said: “I felt a little bit deflated obviously.
“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into this bid.
“Congratulations to Coventry – they’ve obviously put a really strong bid forward, but at the same time I’m positive because I think what we’ve been through over the course of this whole process has brought a lot of this city together.
“It’s identified huge areas of culture within the city and I think we will still go forward from this. We’ve got a fantastic year of events coming up.
“We’ve got the Tall Ships coming, the 30th anniversary of the air show, a whole host of music coming to the city as well – the big one is Herrington Country Park with the 80s event – so there is a lot coming into Sunderland anyway. We have the Cultural Spring and the MAC Trust.
“It’s huge legacy. We’ve identified so many people who have a connection with culture. We’ve learned an awful lot and I think the city has gained a huge amount of national awareness because we’ve been part of this process, so I’ve got to congratulate the team.
“They’ve done a fantastic job and will be a little bit deflated, but there is a lot of work gone into this and I’m very, very proud of what we have achieved.
Sunderland Conservative Coun Peter Wood, who was a member of the City of Culture 2021 Bid Steering Group, said: “We are, naturally, very disappointed that Sunderland is not the winner.
“That we did not win is through no lack of effort on our part.
“Indeed, Rebecca Ball and her team are to be congratulated for their superb effort which brought together people from every corner of the city and beyond in support of our bid.
“Links have been established which will serve the city well in the future.
“It was well worth making the effort. The regeneration of the city will still happen but not being UK City of Culture 2021 means it will take a little longer to achieve.”
Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott said: “We are a unique city with a large population, but everybody knows everybody.
“And now everybody will know who we are and where we are.”