Secret millionaire Carl Hopkins visits Easington Colliery

Aug 24 2008 by Robert Weatherall, Sunday Sun

IT IS one of the most deprived communities in the country, and always seems to hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.

But residents of a former North mining village are set to show the country that they still have terrific community spirit and are willing to work hard to improve their lives.

This Tuesday, Easington Colliery will be featured in the hit Channel4 programme Secret Millionaire. The series sees wealthy philanthropists arrive in a rundown community, live on the most basic income and try to find worthy causes they can help.

Millionaire marketing guru Carl Hopkins spent 10 days posing as a community warden and being followed around by a camera crew.

Carl grew up on a tough council estate in Leeds but, having done very well for himself in life, says he wanted an opportunity to give something back to worthy causes.

He said: “I had been wanting to do something for a while but it can be difficult. Finding the time is hard but, also, as a middle-aged man, if you go up to a community centre out of the blue and say ‘I want to work with kids’ you tend to get a few funny looks!

“The production company set everything up. I heard about the project through my wife, who works in the media and she got a Press release from the company saying they were looking for suitable people.”

Carl is remaining tight-lipped about how much he gave to good causes but he did provide cash for Easington Colliery brass band, Easington Social Welfare Club and the Spyral Project, an urban farm run by Jimmy Naylor.

Carl said: “It struck me that, despite the area suffering in recent years, there are some people in the community who are really holding things together and trying to give youngsters a better start.

“They are doing things without any hope of making profit and vast fortunes for themselves. They are doing what they believe is right for the community and there aren’t enough people like that left in the world.”

Apart from leaving the people of Easington in a better position than when he found them, Carl says he also benefited from the experience.

He said: “It struck me just how friendly and open everyone was. I spent 10 days living there yet I know some people in Easington better than my neighbours, who I have lived near to for 10 years.

“I have come from outside the area and invested some money but I would really hope that local businesses continue the work and support the projects.”

V THE SECRET MILLIONAIRE is on Channel4 on Tuesday at 9pm.