Durham Easter Egg Run sees its biggest year yet

Bikers travel down the A167 en route to Darlington Memorial Hospital. Image: Kevin Woodcock

The Egg Run had its most successful year so far after record numbers of bikers took to the roads to gift Easter eggs to children in local hospitals.

Each year, Durham’s local biking community comes together to put a smile on the faces of the children unfortunate enough to be spending the Easter weekend in hospital.

The event sees thousands of bikers travel between Durham University hospital and Darlington Memorial hospital, with hundreds of spectators lining the streets each year.

This year, over 3,000 Easter eggs were donated by the public and distributed to hospitalised children, as well as local care homes and community groups.

Founder of the egg run, Tony Hudspith said: “It does get emotional, because you see everybody supporting such a worthy cause, and it’s not just the bikers, it’s the full community as well, it’s just brilliant.”

[embed]Founder Tony Hudspith on this year’s event. Video: Erin Wilson

After the event was cancelled by Durham Police in 2012 due to insufficient resources, Mr Hudspith took matters into his own hands.

“I didn’t think that was fair on the kids” he said, “so I decided to set the Easter egg run up myself, expecting maybe 20 bikes to turn up.”

Since Mr Hudspith’s revival of the event, numbers of participants have only increased year on year. This year’s run saw 1,264 bikes take part, a record number.

And it’s not just local children that the egg run benefits, nine local charities are aided each year by monetary donations from the community. This year alone, over £5,000 has been donated to charities such as Northumbria Blood Bikes and Stray Aid.

Infographic showing egg run statistic from this year (2026). Image: Erin Wilson

On the day, many children and their families waited for the bikers to pass, waving and cheering them on for miles.

The Egg run isn’t only a charity event, but also a way to bring the community together. “None of this would be possible without such a supportive local community, we couldn’t ask for anything more.” said fellow organiser Graeme Mills.

“Every year crowds line the streets and support us all the way along the route, from start to finish, it’s a huge spectacle.”

Crowds wait for the egg run on bridges over the A167. Image: Kevin Woodcock

A real sense of togetherness is shown by the egg run’s fully volunteer-based operations team and marshals, who work year-round to make the event go ahead smoothy.

“The logistics are an absolute headache” says Graeme, speaking about the grey areas of planning, but noted that “it’s all worth it in the end to see the smiles on the kid’s faces.”

Planning is already in the works for next year’s run, which the team hopes to be the biggest and best yet.