So we thought we would raid our photo archives to remind you just how much South Tyneside loves having a laugh – and we hope it won’t be too long before we will all do so again.
5. Sense of achievement
A runner celebrates completing the 2019 Great North Run. Photo: Tim Richardson
6. A happy tail
Susan Tully and Nell seem happy to be reunited with each other after Nell went missing in South Shields in 2016. Photo: Stu Norton
7. The wonder of Woolies
Stock room assistant Graham Robinson in drag raising money for Guide Dog for the Blind back in 1987. He is pictured with Woolworth colleagues Jennifer Swinney, Graham Robinson, Ann Ainsley, Karen Steven, Cheryl Wall, Margaret Simon. Photo: Sunderland Echo
8. Here we Joe
Singer Joe McElderry has never forgotten his home town of South Shields since finding fame. Here he is pictured having a laugh while visiting Cancer Connections, in South Shields, in 2013. Photo: Stu Norton