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Teesside stories you may have missed this week

BBC/Stuart Whincup A group of older men and one woman at the front, wearing royal service uniform, march with flags on a beach promenade.BBC/Stuart Whincup
Service men and women took part in a parade in Redcar as part of VE Day celebrations

VE Day parties and parades and the heart-warming story of Saltburn grandmothers knitting jumpers to help save penguins caught up in oil spills.

Here are some stories you may have missed on Teesside this week.

VE Day celebrations like 'nothing I'd ever seen'

Kenneth Johnson is wearing glasses, looks at the camera, as he sits in front of large poster. The poster has a blue sky background with red poppies on it and silhoutees of soldiers, with British flags. It reads 'lest we forget' and 'VE DAY 1945-2025- 8 MAY
Kenneth Johnson said he remembered everyone waltzing and snake dancing

"It was like nothing I'd ever seen," 102-year-old RAF veteran Kenneth Johnson said of the VE Day celebrations in 1945.

He is one of thousands across the north-east of England and Cumbria who commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe.

Services and parties took place, including parades in Redcar, ahead of the lighting of beacons as part of a national hilltop ceremony.

"Everyone was waltzing and snake dancing [conga lines] - it seems quite silly now," Mr Johnson, from Darlington recalled.

  • Read about Mr Johnson's memories here

Illegal vapes stored under 'rotting waste' in bins

Darlington Council Black bin bags containing cigarettes and vapes sit on rubbish in a large, blue commercial wheelie bin.Darlington Council
Trading Standards officers found the vapes and tobacco under "rotting waste"

llegal vapes and tobacco worth more than £12,000 were stored under "rotting waste" in wheelie bins, Trading Standards officers found.

The officials seized 685 packs of cigarettes, 24 packs of hand-rolling tobacco and 83 illegal vapes from bins outside a shop in Darlington.

Cleveland Police informed Darlington Borough Council after spotting a shop worker removing tobacco from the bins where it was being used as off-site storage.

  • Read the full story here

Nannas knit jumpers for oil-spill penguins

Hillcare Two soft toy penguins with knitted jumpers on. The one on the left has a pink jumper with yellow and black stripes. The penguin on the right has a navy jumper with white stripes. They are at a beach with the sea and another headland behind them.Hillcare
Rehabilitation jumpers prevent penguins ingesting toxic oil while preening

Little jumpers knitted by grandmothers are being used to prevent penguins caught in oil spills from getting ill while trying to clean their feathers.

Dubbing themselves the Knitting Nannas, the group based at Hazelgrove Court Care Home in Saltburn, Teesside, have been sending their mini creations to a charity in Australia.

The woolly tops are used as a barrier to stop the birds ingesting toxic chemicals when they try to preen themselves after swimming through oil.

  • Read all about the Knitting Nannas story here

Fan pays £1,000 to get others to Wembley final

Spennymoor Town FC Gary Finley wearing a navy jumper holds a cheque and a black and white striped football shirt up, as he stands next to a fan, who is wearing a grey gilet with a football emblem on it, over a white shirt. He is holding up an orange hi-vis jacket. Both are standing on a football pitch on a sunny day. Black and white seats are behind them.Spennymoor Town FC
Gary Finley, left, donated £1,000, to help fans watch Spennymoor FC at Wembley

A football fan paid £1,000 to help others travel to Wembley for an FA Trophy final.

Lifelong Spennymoor Town FC fan Gary Finley said he had to "follow his heart" and pay transport costs for more than 65 fans going to watch their team play Aldershot Town on Sunday.

It comes after Spennymoor Town Council refused to help the club pay for fans to travel to the final as part of their Back the Fans and Pack the Stands campaign.

  • Read all about this act of generosity here

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