Sunderland's Good Friday Walk of Witness returns to Tunstall Hill for Easter 2023 after four-year absence

The spiritual event will see people gather to carry a cross to the top of Tunstall Hill, reenacting the journey made by Jesus when he carried the cross on which he was to be crucified to the top of the Hill of Golgotha near Jerusalem.

The commemorative event will see people gather in the car park off Leechmere Road at 10am where there will be a welcome prayer followed by a ‘Passion of Christ’ drama by students from the University of Sunderland, reenacting Jesus’s trial and the build-up to his crucifixion.

The group will then walk to the top Tunstall Hill where the cross will be erected, followed by final prayers, a blessing, and the completion of the Passion production.

A tradition carried out in Sunderland for over half-a-century, the Walk of Witness was cancelled for the last three years due to the Covid pandemic.

This year’s event has been organised by Our Lady of Mercy’s congregation, and helping to coordinate its return is Rebecca Leighton, Catholic Lay Chaplain at the University of Sunderland.

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Rebecca said: “The Walk of Witness has always been a popular event and not just with people of faith. So I’m really pleased it’s returning this year.

"For us as Christians, Easter is our pinnacle as the crucifixion is the reason Jesus came to earth in the first place. Tunstall Hill looks out over the city and seeing the cross provides a reminder to people as to what Easter is really about.”