“THIS is Stockton-on-Tees.”
That was the message passed around the Borough during the world’s biggest ever game of Chinese Whispers on Friday and Saturday.
Around 10,000 people took part in the event, branded The Loudest Whisper, which was held as part of the Positively Stockton-on-Tees campaign.
The campaign was launched in response to news that Channel 4’s Benefits Street will be basing its next series in the Borough.
After the event, organiser Mike McGrother said: “We live in a world where TV and media provide people with instant snapshots of society; ‘reality’ TV. But we also know that the old adage ‘the camera never lies’ is, quite simply, not true.
“We have chosen to counterbalance the potential negativity associated with Benefits Street by doing things in a lovelier way. We have shown that a community can be given a voice and can come together for a common good and not a divisive bad.”
More than 250 organisations and hundreds of people – from retailers, solicitors and athletes to builders, school children and unicyclists – took part.
The Loudest Whisper is just one of a number of events and activities planned as part of the Positively Stockton-on-Tees campaign.
To watch a video of The Loudest Whisper highlights, or for full details of the campaign, visit:www.positivelystocktonontees.co.uk