What's on at the SoL: Great North Snowdogs

Two of the Great North Snowdogs have taken up residence at the Stadium of Light – and Sunderland AFC has also brought in its famous Black Cat mascots to get in on the act.

SAFC’s Wonderhound has been installed at the North East corner of the stadium for the duration of the trail, which runs until the end of November, while SAFC Spraydog can be found near the main reception. And as added attraction, the football club has created its own black cat trail for families to complete.

Black cats will be located around the stadium site and visitors will be able to pick up a map from the Hilton Garden Inn hotel and will be encouraged not only to visit the dogs but also to find all the hidden cats.

Once all the cats have been found, the forms needs to be handed into the hotel reception where youngsters will get a special sticker and families will then be entered into a prize draw for a part-season card for a family of four and a mascot place for one youngster for Sunderland’s match against Liverpool at the Stadium of Light.

The Great North Snowdogs trail has been created by Newcastle’s St Oswald’s Hospice, which cares for young people from across the region and art’s organisation, Wild in Art.

The dogs have all been sponsored by businesses from across Tyne and Wear, with the two SAFC snowdogs some of many which can be found across the city.

“We were delighted to support the Great North Snowdogs trail and we think visitors will love our two dogs, one of which in particular is definitely going to appeal to our fans,” said Gary Hutchinson, Commercial Director at SAFC.

“But we also needed to stay faithful to our famous mascots so we’ve come up with a unique way for Samson and Delilah to be involved which will hopefully make it even more exciting for visitors.”

A specially devised app which can be downloaded from today will also feature a range of special offers for the Hilton Garden Inn Sunderland and the Karbon Grill restaurant alongside the SAFC club store.

A range of offers on two matches – Crystal Palace on September 24 and West Brom on October 1 – have also been included in the deals, which can either be accessed via the app or by taking a selfie with the snowdogs and posting it on social media.

Anyone posting needs to use the appropriate hashtags - #wonderhound, #safcSpraydog and #greatnorthsnowdog. Terms and conditions apply to all of the offers.

People who do not have access to social media can still take advantage of the offers by showing the picture of themselves with the dog at the relevant outlet.

The Great North Snowdogs trail will run until 29 November after which the dogs will be auctioned to raise funds for the hospice.