Crowd digs deep for a good cause

People in the South West opened their wallets to donate thousands of dollars for Telethon at the weekend.

Collie defied its economic downturn coming in as the most generous town for 2016, next to Australind, Eaton placing in fourth place and South Bunbury in ninth place.

People poured into Bunbury Centrepoint shopping centre on Sunday to enjoy carnival rides, face painting and celebrity guest appearances from new House Rules judge Wendy Moore and The Secret Daughter star Matt Levett.

Bunbury Centrepoint marketing manager Diana Ashworth said the event was a great success with 7000 people attending and a total of $50,000 donated towards the record telethon total of $26, 290,154.

Ms Ashworth said she was pleased to hear Bunbury received a special mention on air after the celebrities returned to the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

She said they had pre-recorded interviews at the carnival throughout the day which aired on Telethon.

“Everything ran super smooth and I couldn’t have asked for a better day,” she said.

“Top Jazz Ballet drew massive crowds, the face painting and balloon twisting were also really popular.”

Ms Ashworth said next year she will make sideshow alley bigger and bring in more face painters.