How you can support Macmillan with the 'World's Longest Coffee Morning'

West Boldon Post Office, on Addison Road, wants the event to stretch between West and East Boldon for the 2020 Macmillan Coffee Morning.

The post office is run by husband and wife team Katie and Sean Hudson, who aim to raise £1,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The event will take place at 11am on Saturday, September 26. It is officially supposed to take place the day before, but Katie and Sean felt that more people would be able to help fill the route on a Saturday,

Coronavirus has meant some changes from last year’s coffee morning.

In 2019, a gazebo was put up outside to make room for everyone. But currently only two customers are allowed in the shop at one time.

But the couple have every faith in the spirit of Boldon pulling everyone through. They organised a similar event in November last year, with Remembrance poppies running from West to East Boldon.

Participants at the coffee morning are asked to take a mug, flask and chair outside to make a human coffee chain, with gaps in place according to social distancing.

The event has been organised in line with the Government’s coronavirus guidelines.

Sean added: “We want it to be as long as we can get it. We would like to get from West to East Boldon - Hylton Lane, along Addison Road, hopefully ending around Western Terrace in East Boldon, maybe The Hawthorns.

“We’ve set up a Gofundme page and our target is £1,000. If we get anywhere near that I’ll be delighted. We’ve done it the last few years, but we’re conscious that charities have been particularly hard hit during the pandemic.

"Interest is bubbling up. We have people in a number of streets and estates expressing an interest and I’m hopeful we can to stretch from West to East Boldon again, as we did with the poppies.

“We were going to have something on the village green, but coronavirus put paid to that. We’ll still be able to get the community out, but in a socially distanced way. The community spirit has been tremendous.”

To contribute, visit the GoFundMe page here.

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

You can subscribe to this website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app.

With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Simply click ‘Subscribe’ in the menu. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here.

Thank you.