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Tyneside and Northumberland stories you might have missed

Supplied Adam Ball is coming out of the water, smiling broadly and raising his fist in victory. He is wearing an orange swim cap and a dark swimsuit.Supplied
Adam Ball, who has cystic fibrosis, completed a national park lake swimming challenge

A man with cystic fibrosis who completes a swimming challenge raising thousands of pounds for charity and a beaver who became so adept at absconding from his "secure" enclosure that he was named after a star of the classic film The Great Escape.

Here are five stories from across Tyneside and Northumberland you might have missed this week.

Great North gaffe cash-in

eBay/Vinted A composite image showing three medals - each with the date 2025 and showing an aerial view of a map of Sunderland with the words Newcastle, Gateshead and South Shields. Each medal is part of an online selling platform advert, with descriptions describing them as a "map mistake" medal or an "error, priceless collectors item keepsake". Two are being sold for £5,000 and one for £3,000.eBay/Vinted
The official 2025 Great North Run medals incorrectly used an outline of Sunderland and the River Wear

Great North Run medals, which showed an image of the wrong city and river, appeared on sale as "error collectables" for up to £5,000.

One punter said the medal was the "rarest, most unique running medal ever".

  • The half marathon organisers also weighed in here

Meet Steve the Great Escape beaver

Paul Harris A beaver is pictured side on, emerging from a cage filled with straw. He is lifting his head and has his front right foot in the air as he moves forward purposefully.Paul Harris
Nicknamed Steve, the young beaver was released into an enclosure at Wallington in 2023 but escaped three times

Until this year it was not legal to release a beaver into the wild in England where they have been extinct for centuries.

Over the last two decades, hundreds were released into fenced enclosures that were supposed to be secure.

But some of the beavers have been very good at getting out, including one young male in Northumberland.

  • Read about Steve the beaver's escapades here

Wembley memories

Lynn Simmonette Newcastle Women FC women, wearing black and white striped football shorts, and black shorts and football boots, crouch down and some stand up, holding trophies on a grass field. Lynn Simmonette
The team had to fundraise to play at Wembley for the first time

The Women's Football season marks almost 30 years since Newcastle Women's Football Club made history in their first game at Wembley.

  • Take a look back at the team's photo archive here

'Gotta Catch 'Em All'

Exploring the world of Pokémania

Pokémania took the world by storm in the 1990s, and almost three decades later, the fanbase, and the Pokémon Trading Card market, is booming.

We went with fan and content creator Ash to the grand opening of a new trading card shop in Newcastle.

  • There is serious money being spent to "catch 'em all", watch more here

Cystic fibrosis swimmer completes lake challenge

Supplied Adam Ball is swimming in Windermere. Three people are on paddle boards in the background watching.Supplied
Adam Ball raised thousands of pounds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust

It was an emotional final swim for Adam Ball, from South Shields, as he completed The 13 lakes challenge for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Diagnosed with the condition himself, he took on the task to mark his 30th birthday.

Mr Ball was previously told that because of his condition, which affects his ability to breathe, he would not live to see that age.

  • You can read more about his inspiring swim here

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