City's very own Christmas tale
A Christmas tale inspired by a Penshaw Monument is helping to make this festive season fly by as it also helps boost the funds of a children’s charity.
G raph i c d e s i g n e r Wi l - liam Boddy, 51, had always dreamed of creating his own Christmas story, and when D i x i e M a r t h a B a ke r, 1 3 , a relative of his wife’s, shared her own illustrations during lockdown, they decided to team up to write When Santa Got Stuck Up the Monument.
T h e y c o l l a b o r at e d v i a email as they pulled together images and the storyline, with the book now on sale a n d h e l p i n g to g ive C h i l - d r e n's H e a r t U n i t F u n d (CHUF) a welcome cash boost.
William is married to Heather, 48, who works at Penshaw Farm Shop, which has added the £4 story to its counters for the festive per i o d a f te r i t wa nte d to d o something special to mark this Christmas and help a good cause.
Dixie is the daughter of Heather’s cousin Joanne McKinnon, from Washington,
and her sister Elma, now 10, was treated for a heart cond i t io n wh e n s h e wa s j u s t f ive - m o nth s - o l d , m a k i n g the fund-raising effort even more important for the family.
Dad-of-three Will i a m s a i d : “H eath e r k n ew I a l ways wa nt e d t o w r i t e s o m eth i n g a n d I s a i d ye s straight away.
"I wanted to set it somewhere familiar, everyone in the North East knows Penshaw Monument.
“It would be good if families could walk up the hill, look up and the top of Penshaw Monument, see where Santa was stuck and retrace his steps.”
William got in touch with
Dixie to ask if she would like to join in the project after he saw some of her drawings and she then spent her school holidays working on the images.
“I t’s g o n e d o w n r e a l l y well and we’ve had orders in from across the world, Africa and Australia and we also got a message from someone from Sunderland now living in New Jersey who had seen the book and wanted a bit of Penshaw in their Christmas,” added William.
The book can be bought f r o m t h e Pe n s h aw Te a - room and its bakery, with m o re i n fo r m at i o n ava i l able via its When Santa Got Stuck Up The Monument Facebook page.