Channel 4's Secret Millionaire

 

Earlier this year, Dawn went underground as Channel 4's Secret Millionaire

 View the entire episode online

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dawn takes 'Big Society' to Westminster

 

When the government wants to learn what makes a successful local community initiative, where do they turn? To Dawn's pet project, Congleton Beartown of course!

 

Dawn Gibbins and her team were invited to the Houses of Parliament to describe some of the fantastic things our local community has done, and how we achieved it.

“It's incredible what we have accomplished over the last couple of years,” says Dawn...

 

  • One of our founding activities was an Atmospheric Survey that made far-reaching recommendations to improve the local environment and has catalysed so much change
  • The ‘My Beartown’ branding of to give all the activities focus
  • The Bear Story schools competition, precursor to the Cultural Arts Festival
  • Bear Mania complete with giant bears. involved over 3,000 local schoolchildren, local artists and local business. Bear Mania has already delivered thousands of visitors to the town and has enjoyed media coverage on BBC TV, Granada TV, national and local radio.
  • Congleton Sustainability Group formed and active with initiatives such as Congleton's own apple juice
  • Bears Mean Business expo with a real focus on encouraging inward investment and developing existing businesses.
  • Our own MyBeartown website that has become an important resource used by the people of Congleton – it has achieved over 8,000 visitors last month, making more than 40,000 page views between them - all from a town with a population of 26,000.

 

The team also described some of their plans for next year, including a Beartown Outdoor Living Festival in May , a Bear Parade July, and the birth of Bosley Bear and the Professor, educational material that will be available across the UK.