A BAKERY will launch the first-ever National Stottie Week this month.
Big River Bakery, which has its office base in Wylam and a bakery in Shieldfield, Newcastle, launched the event to celebrate one of the top cultural icons of the North East, which will take place from February 12-18.
Wylam resident Andy Haddon, founder and owner of Big River Bakery, said he was inspired to start National Stottie Week to celebrate the history and legacy of the stottie.
He hopes to spread the occasion as far as possible, with events and activities focused on the stottie, including the Stottie Cake Trail and a life-sized Scotty the Stottie mascot visiting businesses and schools throughout the region.
Some of the local businesses to have signed up include The Ship Inn and The Coffee Tree in Wylam and Caffe Ginevra in Prudhoe and Low Prudhoe.
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The Stottie Cake Trail includes one Greggs branch in Newcastle, pie-makers Dicksons, and Fenwicks, where people can go to spot Scotty the Stottie and buy stotties or purchase stottie kits to make their own.
Companies can arrange with the bakery for the life-sized mascot to turn up at the business premises.
"We need to celebrate the past and inspire people to look forward to the future. Stotties, for me, are a real symbol of the resourcefulness of the North East people and we'll have some fun during National Stottie Week too," Andy said.
"Hopefully, the Stottie Cake Trail will bring footfall and trade to the organisations that get involved with National Stottie Week, whether they are shops, community centres or schools. It's not just about Big River Bakery.
"There will be baking sessions and activities with schools, we want them to get in touch with us and get involved and make it a bigger thing. We can't do it on our own, it's about working with others, which I think the North East can be good at."
He urged any businesses or schools looking to get involved in National Stottie Week to get in touch through Big River Bakery's website at https://bigriverbakery.myshopify.com/.
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