Local Artist David Hughes MBE celebrates 100th Birthday with charity art exhibition

Local artist David Hughes MBE is celebrating his 100th birthday with a charity art exhibition titled *Celebration* at Arts Centre Washington, running from 20 November to 20 December 2025. He has donated a collection of his paintings to STS Charity, the official charity of South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, to raise funds for the Stroke Unit Fund and the Vision Appeal, which supports a new Eye Hospital in Sunderland opening in summer 2026. Hughes, who taught himself to paint after retiring at age 60, credits Sunderland Royal Hospital with saving his life twice—after a stroke in 2024 and a pacemaker procedure in 2010.