Eagles Community Foundation and Northumbria Healthcare Bright Charity are celebrating 13th anniversary of their long-running partnership.

The two North East charities have worked together since the start of 2013 to engage young people with informative sessions about exercise and healthy lifestyles through the Eagles’ award-winning Hoops 4 Health initiative.

Bright Charity directly support their native North Tyneside region’s programme activity across the 2025/26 basketball season seeing the familiar faces of Newcastle Eagles players and Foundation staff visit primary schools throughout the area to deliver hugely popular coaching and educational roadshows.

The outreach sessions lead-up to a regional tournament between each schools’ teams at the Vertu Arena and culminates in the semi-finals taking place before an Eagles’ men’s Super League Basketball (SLB) fixture, with the final played at half-time in front of over 2,500 fans.

Thanks to Bright Charity, this year’s North Tyneside finals took place on Friday 23 January, ahead of the Eagles’ SLB tip-off against London Lions with four teams competing in a series of exciting and competitive games on the show court.

Rob Graham, Head of Bright Charity, said: “We’re passionate about investing in initiatives that make a real difference in our communities.

“This programme doesn’t just encourage children to be active – it gives them confidence, teamwork skills, and a strong foundation for leading healthy, balanced lives.

“We’re incredibly proud to support Hoops 4 Health and to celebrate the achievements of the young people who take part.”

The opening fixture saw Cullercoats Primary School face St Mary’s Primary School in a closely contested seven-minute game. Both teams defended strongly, resulting in a scoreless-draw for the majority of the match. Late in the game, St Mary’s managed to break the deadlock, securing a 2-0 victory and progressing to the final.

The second semi-final featured the middle schools of Marden Bridge and Wellfield. This match was equally intense, ending in a 2-2 draw at the final buzzer. The game was decided by a shootout, with each team selecting one girl and one boy to shoot from the free-throw line. After two rounds without a successful basket, Marden Bridge claimed their place in the final by scoring the decisive shot.

At half-time in the Eagles’ SLB game, all four schools returned to the court for the Hoops 4 Health Final. St Mary’s Primary School and Marden Bridge Middle School battled to be crowned champions in a thrilling seven-minute contest. Both teams exchanged baskets throughout, with the score tied at 4-4 heading into the final moments. St Mary’s showed great composure under pressure, scoring a late basket to secure a 6-4 victory.

Following the final, all participating schools were presented with medals in recognition of their efforts by Northumbria Healthcare’s Bright Charity hospital volunteers and mascot Sunny.

St Mary’s Primary School were awarded the Hoops 4 Health trophy and officially crowned the 2025/26 North Tyneside Champions and receive an invitation to the overall Champion of Champions event taking place later this year.

Sam Blake, Chief Executive Officer of Eagles Community Foundation, said: “Having this continued support from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and their Bright Charity has been huge for our Hoops 4 Health initiative for over a decade.

“This investment in the programme has helped us engage thousands of children and encourage them to live healthy lifestyles, which will have an even bigger impact on the futures of our region’s young people.”