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North East landmarks including St Mary’s Lighthouse, Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Penshaw Monument and the Northern Spire Bridge in Sunderland will be bathed in red light on Friday 17 June to mark the contribution that people in our region make to research.

The landmarks are being lit in a national ‘wave of light’ that will start in Portsmouth, as part of the UK-wide #Red4Research day.

#Red4Research began in 2020 as a Twitter campaign to demonstrate support and appreciation for all those participating, undertaking and supporting COVID-19 research.

It was started by NHS research nurse Sally Humphreys who wanted to recognise the contribution of researchers and the public to understanding more about COVID-19, as well as developing the first vaccines. The simple idea was to ask people to ‘wear Red4Research’ then post a picture on social media using #Red4Research.

The campaign was hugely popular again in 2021, and this year it has been broadened to recognise all aspects of health and social care research – covering everything from medical trials to mental health.

#Red4Research is being supported by health and social care researchers and practitioners across the North East, who’ll be wearing red on Friday 17^th June and sharing pictures on social media.

The North East region has a vibrant and innovative health and social care research community, including a total of 12 National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) research centres, networks and collaborations.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds, enables and delivers world-leading health and social care research that improves people’s health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth.

Major NIHR centres hosted by our region include the NIHR School for Public Health Research, NIHR Policy Research Unit for Behavioural Science and the NIHR Innovation Observatory – all based in Newcastle. Our area is also home to regionwide research networks including an NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) and Clinical Research Network (CRN) covering the North East and North Cumbria.

Find out more about NIHR research in the North East and North Cumbria.

#Red4Research Founder, Sally Humphreys said: “On the front line and behind the scenes, incredible research teams continue to work on health and social care research. COVID-19 has forced us to do things differently, to be more innovative, flexible and more responsive. Over the past two years, the research and development community in collaboration with the health and care sectors and voluntary organisations has achieved a phenomenal amount.

“This year we are very excited that a number of landmarks and iconic buildings across the nations will light up red in support of #Red4Research and we’re really grateful for the support we’ve had from local authorities in the North East who’ve agreed to light their sites red for research.”

Sally Humphreys is Chair of the NHS Research and Development Forum – which is the UK network for the research management, support and leadership community in health and care.  She is also an NHS Research Nurse and PhD student.

More information about the Red4Research Wave of Light on June 17

The wave of red light starts in the south with the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth on the evening of Thursday 16th June.  On Friday 17th June the wave will then move North, with other landmarks including:

• Cardiff Castle
• Civic Town Hall, Trowbridge
• Derry City and Strabane District Council Building
• Falkirk Wheel
• Gateshead Millennium Bridge
• St Mary’s Lighthouse, Whitley Bay
• Sunderland – Northern Spire, Hylton Castle, Penshaw Monument
• Tavistock Town Hall
• The Kelpies
• The Mersey Gateway
• Witney Town Council

Anyone can take part, by posting a picture or a supportive message on Twitter, using #Red4Research and tagging @NHSRDForum. You can also email images to [email protected]

To find  out more about #Red4Research, visit the NHS R&D Forum website