Meet the North Sea's first ever mermaid

Hannah Potter dressed as Princess Alaria of the North Sea. Picture by David Wood

Princess Alaria – real name Hannah Potter – is fast becoming a popular fixture at both children’s parties and corporate events throughout the region.

Hannah, from New Hartley, has jumped right in at the deep end for her new role, even gaining qualifications which allow her to swim safely in huge tanks at the organised events.

Hannah’s success reflects the growing trend across the country for character-themed entertainment parties, for both children and adults.

Now, the 23-year-old is turning her passion into a business having launched Pure Imagination Events, offering not only mermaids but a whole host of other characters, including pirates and princesses.

Hannah, a University of Sunderland graduate, said: “I think I’m the first performing mermaid in the North East to have got so many qualifications.

“You need certain qualifications so that you can perform in a pool with the tail on at the events.

“It’s not just children’s parties, we’ve had a lot of requests for corporate events and sometimes there are the specialised big tanks which I swim in.”

Hannah has launched her events company along with her mum Julie Potter, after graduating from the University of Sunderland in 2016 where she studied Animation and Games Art.

She said: “It might seem like a big leap from animation to mermaids but I’m hoping to eventually create a comic about the characters we have as part of the business.

“This type of thing is really big in America at the minute and we incorporate lots of different things into the service we provide, from the music to the decorations and even bespoke cakes.”

During her time at the University of Sunderland, Hannah was selected to take part in a CBBC initiative, which saw her animation brought to life on the small screen for the hit series Scream Street.

To find out more about Hannah’s events visit Pure Imagination Events on Facebook.

Business support for Hannah’s venture has come from The Enterprise Place based at Hope Street Xchange in Sunderland. The Internships and Enterprise project is receiving up to £2,207,656 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. ‌For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding