It is almost exactly one year since a declining North-East town centre was given the support of TV shopping guru Mary Portas and a £92,000 budget. Chris Webber found out what happened next

EVERY town needs a woman like Joanna Wake.

A proud, eighth-generation Stocktonian, Joanna, just 28, somehow finds time between running her own business and bringing up her son to attempt to save her home town’s High Street, the heart of Stockton.

Chatting in Café Nero near The Arc arts and music venue, Joanna, who has just had two grueling interviews on Radios 4 and 5, explains she was involved in Stockton’s Mary Portas scheme from the start.

Stockton, which at one point had 27 per cent of all its retail units empty, one of the region’s worst, was almost exactly one year ago, chosen as one of 12 towns from more than 300, as a Mary Portas town.

That meant TV shopping expert, Mary Portas, had deemed the efforts to turn the fortunes of the town around worth more investment. The Government agreed to give Stockton £92,000.

That money was to be free from council control and Stockton Town Team was set up, made up of businesses, residents and people with a passion for the town, and Joanna was given the top position.

Inevitably, there has been plenty of criticism. For a start, the team has spent only £8,000 so far and, at one point was criticised by Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight when it was revealed it had spent money simply to attend a meeting in London. BBC Radio 4 has pointed to the fact that since the team was set up 14 more retail units are empty.

But Joanna hits back explaining that a 1960s building is being demolished accounting for some of the empty units and, in fact, the BBC was taking the entire town of Stockton as its guide, not just the centre.

The lack of money spent should be seen as a virtue, she argues. Every penny is spent carefully. For example a highly successful ‘street food’ event involved just three venues. The team wanted to know it was going to be a success before devoting more funds. It was and so this year will be bigger.

So what is the plan?

“The overarching theme is get people into the town for reasons other than shopping,” explains Joanna.

“Retail benefits anyway. We’ve got five objectives: increasing footfall; changing perceptions of the town; getting our Durham University students into the centre; connecting businesses with the events and helping businesses help themselves.”

Joanna doesn’t have figures for footfall but knows that certain events, like a recent flashmob and music event brought well over a 1,000 people into the town.

“Some businesses said it was better than the Christmas lights switch on,” says Joanna.

“It was organised by Mike McGrother who said one woman came to him and said, ‘I’ve hated Stockton for 60 years, I’ll never feel that way again'.”

Perception is, she says, changing slowly. The markets organised by council are bringing more people in, more independent shops, the key to changing the feel of the town more than the national chains, have opened, more fun events like, for example, treasure hunts are bringing young families in.

And a meeting is held for all the businesses every month to encourage ideas exchanges and cameraderie. Small things that mean a lot.

“There’s a long way to go,” says Joanna as we visit a new pub, Storytellers, walking through the surprisingly busy market, “but perceptions are changing. You can see it, you can feel it.”