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Wearside stories you may have missed this week

BBC Head-and-shoulder shot of a grey-haired man with a grey beard, smiling in a wry manner. He is wearing a chef's jacket. The blurred background shows a pub or restaurant. BBC
Pete Zulu now runs a pub in South Tyneside - but which punk anthem is he known for?

Forty years ago, Sunderland band Toy Dolls took a quirky children's song, Nellie the Elephant, and transformed it into a punk rock anthem.

The track's story is about far more than just a catchy tune though, for it was a contender to be Christmas number one in 1984.

Originally written in the 1950s, Nellie the Elephant had long been a well-loved children's song.

When Toy Dolls dropped their punk-infused cover, however, it became a sensation, selling more than 530,000 copies and reaching number four in the charts.

Nellie the Elephant really did pack a festive punch that year!

Soup kitchen 'overwhelmed' by appeal response

Andrea Bell A group of six volunteers from the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen stand in front of a green lorry which has the name of the charity on a red/orange sign above the cab. They are outside the Stadium of Light, with part of a stand and closed turnstiles behind them. Andrea Bell
Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen will feed 120 people on Christmas Day

The boss of a soup kitchen which had been struggling for funds said she had been "overwhelmed" by the response to its Christmas appeal.

Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen set a target of £10,000 to provide Christmas dinner and gifts to the city's homeless.

The target was reached in four days and the charity is now hoping the final total will exceed £20,000.

CEO and founder Andrea Bell said: "It's just been so lovely this Christmas, I am so grateful to the people of Sunderland."

Prison has mould and 'mushrooms' growing on walls

A mouldy, damp white ceiling with what looks like fungus growing out of it.
Mould "to the point where large mushrooms are growing out of the walls" has been reported in HMP Frankland

A whistleblower has revealed officers working at a prison housing some of Britain's most notorious offenders are dealing with damp, mould and crumbling ceilings.

Photographs taken inside HMP Frankland, near Durham, and seen by the BBC show problems throughout the jail where inmates include Soham murderer Ian Huntley and serial killer Levi Bellfield.

Responding to the images, Phil Hannant, who sits on the Prison Officers Association's National Executive Committee, said "infrastructures are failing".

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it was trying to improve conditions by investing £220m in prison and probation service maintenance in the current financial year, and up to £300m in 2025-26.

Ex-miner lights cathedral's Christmas tree

John Atlee Jackie McCowliff hanging the miner's safety lamp on the tree. He has white hair. Among those also present are Reverend Canon. John Atlee
Durham Cathedral's 17ft Norwegian Spruce was lit by former miner Jackie McCowliff

A former miner lit a cathedral's Christmas tree to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1984 strike.

Durham Cathedral's 17ft (5m) tree was illuminated by Jackie McCowliff during the annual Lighting of the Tree and Blessing of the Crib.

He hung a miner's safety lamp on the tree, assisted by 16-year-old Sally Lockey from the Durham Miners' Association Band.

The Reverend Canon Michael Hampel, precentor at the cathedral, said the anniversary allowed people to remember "the hurt of the past and the need to believe that the light of hope comes into our lives even at the darkest times".

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