Featured
Young Sunderland musician diagnosed with rare brain tumour – here’s how you can help her!

One of Sunderland’s brightest young talents, Faye Fantarrow, 20, from East Herrington, has spent the past few years establishing herself on the live music scene with her soulful sound, winning the 2021 Alan Hull award for writing, tipped for 2022 by BBC Introducing and playing festivals such as Mouth of the Tyne and Stockton Calling.
This year, she got her biggest break yet – signing to fellow Mackem musician Dave Stewart’s Bay Street Records and flying to The Bahamas this summer to record her debut EP.
But, it was just two weeks after she returned in September that she began to feel unwell, experiencing headaches and extreme fatigue, which led to an earth shattering diagnosis of a rare type of aggressive glioma brain tumour. Doctors say may have been a very rare side effect of leukaemia treatment, which Faye received twice in her younger years, beating the disease when she was just eight and battling it again in 2015 when she was 13.
Devastatingly, there is no treatment for the tumour in the UK. However, Faye had been in constant contact with her mentor Dave who found a CAR T cell trial at The City of Hope clinical research centre in California, putting money towards it.
Faye’s tumour meets the profile required for the trial and her consultant at Newcastle’s RVI hospital is liaising with doctors there to begin the process of collecting Faye’s cells for the start of the treatment – but she needs your help.
Around £450,000 is required to pay for the trial, which could involve many trips toCalifornia in the US to make infusions into her brain, with a JustGiving page launched to help her get there.
So far in under a week, a whopping over £100,000 has been raised (around 20% of the total needed).
Plans are in the works for a charity fundraising gig and charity buckets have been spotted around local music venues in Sunderland city centre.
Faye had been very wary of announcing her illness for fears it would affect her career, but she says the outpouring of support has been a real comfort.
“I really didn’t want it to affect my career,” she said. “I didn’t want to be an X Factor sob story after all the work I’ve done, but the support and words of encouragement I’ve received have been amazing. Knowing that everyone is 1000% behind me makes such a difference and has done wonders for my self esteem.”
She continued “I’m still adamant to do as much music as I can. This fundraiser has given me the chance of a future, a future doing the music I love. They’ve given me the chance of life and I want to give my music back as a thank you. Dave’s support has been incredible, he says he won’t allow my music to fall through the cracks, he’s been a real pillar of support.”
You can help by donating on her JustGiving page here.
Best of luck Faye, you’re gonna smash this ❤️
Featured
Karen’s Diner on Tour is BACK IN NEWCASTLE!!

Karen’s Diner on Tour coming to town on tour and ‘well if y’all show up in force we’ll either come as a longer term pop up or simply just stay put for a while until we’ve insulted everyone in the North East!’
We have spoken to the top Karen who assures everyone who went last time that Bottomless means BOTTOMLESS!
At our pop-up Karen’s you will be greeted and waited upon by rude waiters who in return are expecting you to give it full Karen. A place where you can complain until the cows come home because we literally don’t care. You can expect good food, good fun and a dining experience like you’ve never had before. Let us know if it’s your birthday, if your name is Karen and for the love of Karen don’t ask to speak to the manager….
Your ticket includes a delicious BOTTOMLESS pizza and BOTTOMLESS prossecco or select spirits and mixers as well as select soft drinks drinks for a full 90mins
*We cater for all allergens
You will get full and authentic Karen experience – our games, our waitstaff and the full works. Decent food provided by the venue (we hope) and BOTTOMLESS booze for those who love a drink. This is a dining experience like no other – literally. Come enjoy the OG Karen’s from OG Karen’s.
Don’t accept imitations – book now to avoid missing out!
Get your tickets here: https://explorehidden.com/public/event/details/karens-diner-on-tour-newcastle-1557060?aff=3w51557060y6I
See our two below YouTube videos from the last time they were in the toon to see what to expect…
Follow our channel for more local videos…
Entertainment
Raoul Moat Drama Coming Soon To ITV

It looks set to be one of ITV’s biggest dramas this year and The Hunt for Raoul Moat is being brought to screen by the same people responsible for smash hit shows Line of Duty, Bodyguard and Vigil.
It was confirmed last April that production on the series had commenced, nearly 12 years after Moat gunman shot ex girlfriend Samantha Stobbart and her new boyfriend Christopher Brown, with Brown dying from his injuries. After fleeing Samantha’s home in Birtley, Moat, who had been released from prison just days earlier, went on the run, shooting on duty policeman PC David Rathband in the face as he sat in a patrol car on the outskirts of Newcastle and leaving him blind.
From there, Moat headed for Northumberland, forcing the quiet village of Rothbury into a lockdown as police launched a frantic search for him. The hunt for Moat reached its conclusion with a tense stand-off between the killer and the police on a riverbank, with Moat eventually shooting himself and dying from his injuries as he was rushed to Newcastle General Hospital.
ITV announced three parter The Hunt for Raoul Moat almost a year ago, as filming got underway in Yorkshire, with a cast including ex Bodyguard star Matt Stokoe as Moat and Inspector George Gently actor Lee Ingeleby as police chief Neil Adamson.
ITV have yet to officially announce an release date for The Hunt for Raoul Moat, but is expected to be form part of the channel’s spring programming.
Featured
Newcastle United to Reveal New Shirt Sponsor?

footballinsider247 are reporting that the main shirt sponsor slot for Newcastle United is expected to be filled by airline SAUDI, who sponsored Newcastle’s mid-season tour of their owners’ homeland in December.
They state ‘This site revealed in February that there is frustration at St James’ Park that they have inherited a kit deal with Castore worth just £5m per year with no break clause and several seasons left to run.’
Newcastle’s recently appointed CEO Darren Eales has already previously expressed that the club at looking at all commercial opportunities and fans on Twitter were keen to mock up their expectation for the new shirts, see below and let us know your thoughts and also see our below video on how NUFC can increase commercial avenues..
Eddie Howe’s team are currently in a strong position to achieve a European slot which would increase revenue into the club allowing more spend whilst staying within Financial Fair Play which is something Howe has spoken about on several occasions as they look to stay within. If the club do reach a European slot it should help significantly with recruitment in the summer by making it a more attractive proposition to any incoming targets.
What do you think of the kits – let us know on our facebook page and join in on the conversation.
You can also download our FREE app – https://linktr.ee/northeastupdates
Credit: NUFC kit concept – twitter
Follow us on YouTube for all local videos and to support us – North East Updates – YouTube
-
Sports1 year ago
Newcastle transfer rumours as January window approaches
-
News1 year ago
Local mum left with serious injuries after being spiked
-
Best of North East1 year ago
Top 10: Date Ideas In Newcastle
-
Sports1 year ago
Rumours: How could Newcastle line-up after the January transfer window?
-
Featured1 year ago
North-East Collection Points For Ukraine Donations
-
Featured1 year ago
Humanitarian aid for Ukraine collection point in Newcastle
-
Sports1 year ago
Favourites to sign for Newcastle in January, according to SkyBet
-
Sports9 months ago
Six potential strikers that would improve Newcastle’s attack