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North East stories you may have missed this week

Supplied Burt, a grey parrot, tilts his head as he looks into the camera. There is a white two-tier storage shelf on the wall behind him. A vase with white lilies is placed on the top shelf. There is a framed wedding photograph on the lower shelf. Supplied
A pet parrot who only recently started to fly was reunited with his owners following a frantic five-day search

A emotional reunion after a pet parrot went missing, two brothers who got caught in a terrifying rip current tell their story and a council struggles to about 300 people who had previously reported damp and mould in their homes.

Here are five stories from the north east of England you may have missed this week.

How brothers survived rip current surf terror

Euan and Andrew stand side by side smiling at the camera, with a yellow beach and blue sea behind them. Euan has brown hair and is wearing a green fleece. Andrew has black hair and is wearing a grey hoody beneath a navy body warmer.
Euan and Andrew survived being caught in a rip current

On Saturday 17 May, two brothers got caught in a terrifying rip current at a popular surfing beach in north-east England.

Euan, 21, and Andrew, 19, were among the dozens dotting the breaking blue waves at Longsands that lunchtime.

They hope sharing their experience will save lives.

  • Read more about what the brothers are advocating for here

Council struggling to 296 mould-hit homes

A stock image of a wall in a house ruined by mould and damp.
Newcastle City Council said it had been unable to 296 homes

A council says it is struggling to close to 300 people who had previously reported damp and mould in their homes.

Newcastle City Council inherited more than 1,800 reports from management organisation Your Homes Newcastle, which was abolished last July.

Of the 491 outstanding cases it still had last month, the local authority said it had now attempted to each of the residents affected.

  • Read more about the council's pledge to deal with the back damp and mould here

Festival to go ahead after new organiser appointed

Lindisfarne Festival A female singer with brown hair, black clothes and an ornate metal tiara sings into a microphoneLindisfarne Festival
The Lindisfarne Festival is due to be held over the last weekend in August

Investors behind the Lindisfarne Festival in Northumberland have appointed its founder, Conleth Maenpaa, to ensure it goes ahead on the last weekend of August.

The decision came after original organiser Wannasee, which was behind numerous festivals in the region, announced it was speaking to liquidators and cancelling other events.

The news has been welcomed by ticketholders and businesses, with headliners at the Beal Farm event set to include Armand Van Halen, Doves and The Waterboys.

  • Read more about the plans for the festival here

Lost parrot home after frantic five-day search

Emma Gibbons Burt, a grey parrot, on the steering wheel of a car ahead of his journey back home.Emma Gibbons
Burt, who is about five months old, had only recently started to fly, his owners said

A pet parrot who only recently started to fly has been reunited with his owners following a frantic five-day search.

Burt, an African Grey, who is about five months old, went missing from his home last Thursday, leaving Stephen and Christine Wilkinson devastated.

Mrs Wilkinson said her husband, who has cancer, got her Burt as a companion and they quickly bonded, so it was "total and utter, consuming grief" when he disappeared.

  • Find out where Burt turned up here

Sting's gift 'future-proofs' kids' access to arts

Eric Ryan Anderson/Batic Sting in a casual beige jacket looking thoughtful. His is standing against a black background and to the left part of the wall is lit up. Eric Ryan Anderson/Batic
The Wallsend-born musician has said access to arts as a young person shaped his "creative development"

An undisclosed amount of money donated by the singer-songwriter Sting will help sustain programmes for children for the foreseeable future, an arts boss has said.

The 73-year-old former Police frontman from Wallsend gifted money to the Baltic Arts Centre in Gateshead but asked that the amount stay secret.

Baltic chair of trustees Kirsty Lang said the gift was "significant" and would help fund programmes for young people at the venue and provide access to "world class contemporary art to inspire".

  • Read more about how the money will help here

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