Watch the moment Sunderland residents take part in socially distant street party complete with rave whistles!

Social distancing measures were still in place as people took part in different challenges and enjoyed some cheerful music from their front gardens.

Phil Monk, a DJ and entertainer who goes by the name of Wee Phillie, ran the event to try and lift spirits during the coronavirus lockdown.

“We put it out there about two or three weeks ago and gave flyers to everyone in the street so they knew what would be happening,” said Monk.

“We invited everyone to join in and just asked if they weren’t joining in to just bear with us for an hour while we did it,”

“Everybody joined in, everyone was up for it, of course before we started we told everyone to stay on their own property and that way we could abide by the social distancing rules.”

Despite lockdown regulations, residents were still able to take part in several challenges during the hour which finished with a tribute to NHS staff.

“We did the odd numbers on one side of the street against the even numbers,” Monk explained.

“One of the challenges we did was you had to run inside, run up the stairs, open your upstairs window and then run downstairs, open your downstairs window and climb out of your downstairs window.

“We also did a challenge where you had to go and get your vacuum cleaner and then we played I Want to Break Free by Queen and we had to vacuum the driveways and see who did it best.

“It was just a bit of fun and people did YMCA and the Macarena, it was just a good laugh.”

Following positive feedback, Denham Avenue are planning to run a similar event in a couple of weeks if the country remains in lockdown.

“The big plan is when we come out of lockdown the whole street is going to get bunting up and we’ll actually have a proper street party,” Monk added.

“It’s really good for the community bringing people back together.”

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