Bradley Lowery Foundation and World Triathlon Championship team up for special entry offer ahead of Sunderland 2023 event

Roker Beach hosted the British Triathlon Super Series Grand Final in August, and organisers are promising next year’s world championship event will be even bigger and better.

Sunderland will host the British leg for the first time on Saturday and Sunday, July 29 and 30, bringing the best triathletes from around the world to Roker, as well as hundreds of amateur participants and thousands of spectators.

To celebrate, the event has joined forces with the Bradley Lowery Foundation to offer a special sale period before general sale opens.

Every entry bought for either the sprint or standard distance from October 8 to 23, including championship, qualifier and relay entries, will see £5 donated to the charity.

Bradley’s fight against neuroblastoma touched the heart of the nation before he sadly passed away in July 2017.

His family launched the Bradley Lowery Foundation with a mission of supporting families with fundraising for treatment or equipment not available on the NHS and continuing Bradley’s legacy.

Mum Gemma is delighted with the gesture from British Triathlon: “It is fantastic,” she said.

“I think it is brilliant to bring something like this to the area and I feel very privileged that they have chosen the Bradley Lowery Foundation to support."

The partnership would be a particular help at a time when the Foundation, like all charities, was finding it difficult: “In the current climate, it is extremely difficult to raise any funds,” said Gemma.

"People just do not have that surplus pound in their pocket. We are in the same position as many other charities in that respect, so we are just doing what we can to continue.”

British Triathlon’s Sam Allen was event director this year and will fill the role again in 2023. She said organisers had been delighted with the response from people in Sunderland and promised there was more to come.

"This year was really successful and it was a little bit of a dress rehearsal for 2023,” she said.

"We were really pleased with how it went and how the local community supported it – event the road closures – and there was an amazing atmosphere.

"Next year is going to be bigger and better and it will be broadcast live on the BBC, so the eyes of the world will be on Sunderland for that weekend."

The field would be more than twice the size of this year and the event would attract thousands of supporters, representing a major economic boost for the city and wider region: “This year we had around 1,000 participants and next year we are looking at 2,500 and about 15 to 20,000 spectators,” said Sam.

"Most of those people will be coming to Sunderland for the first time and hopefully they will take the chance to see something of the city and the North East.”

To see the opportunities on offer and to enter, visit the event website: https://sunderland.triathlon.org/2023/.

More information about the Bradley Lowery Foundation is available here: https://bradleyloweryfoundation.com/.