Dawn Cunningham is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lisa Williamson. Williamson was cast as one of the original characters on Hollyoaks in 1995, and was the first member of the Cunningham family to arrive in the village, before the introduction of her family. However, she left in 1997 when the character died following a battle with leukemia.

Hollyoaks initially focused on the lives and loves of seven teenagers living in a fictional suburb of Chester. Dawn was one of the original characters created by Phil Redmond, and she was introduced in the show's first episode, which aired on 23 October 1995. Williamson secured the role of Dawn without any formal training in acting. She heard about the audition for Hollyoaks while she was in a theatre group. Williamson was surprised to be cast after auditioning, saying "I was incredibly lucky. Loads were up for the part."

"Dawn, 18, is Natasha's best friend and is very practical – until the weekend when anything goes. Affected by her parents' divorce, she feels responsible for looking after her younger brother Max and sister Cindy. She works in the Interior Design shop."

— Dawn's character outline published in the Chester Chronicle (October 1995).

The character was the first member of the Cunningham family to be introduced to the serial. Dawn is described as "spirited, independent and friendly to everyone ... her friends could always rely on Dawn for a shoulder to cry on". The Liverpool Echo described her as an "easy-going interior designer. She was someone who had time for everyone and a shoulder to cry on." The Independent described her as the "equally stunning" friend of Natasha and questioned how she could balance "wild weekends and the emotional demands of a divorced mother with a toyboy?" before asking "Will anyone care?" The character's home life is troubled, she frequently clashes with her mother's "troublesome" new boyfriend Terry Williams (Ian Puleston-Davies), and has to cope with her younger siblings Max Cunningham (Ben Sheriff) and Cindy Cunningham (Hayley Fairclough) wanting to live with their father.

Dawn was the focus of the show's first teen pregnancy storyline. While exploring the character's fictional backstory, it emerges that she had a relationship with Jack Osborne (Jimmy McKenna) when she was 16. She became pregnant and subsequently had the baby adopted out. The storyline was revisited following the death of Natasha Andersen (Shebah Ronay), as a "distressed" Dawn tells Jambo Bolton (Will Mellor) that she has a daughter. Dawn is "horrified" when Jambo then decides to find her child for her. Williamson stated "I think Dawn secretly wants to know how her child is doing, but she also feels Jambo has betrayed her trust." Jack learns the truth when Dawn tells him their daughter has kidney failure and needs a transplant. The illegitimate baby plot also led to Jambo eventually becoming Dawn's love interest.

As the serial's output increased to two episodes a week in late 1996, with producers promising further "hard-hitting" stories, the Daily Mirror's Fiona Parker questioned whether Dawn and Jambo would finally get together as part of the new series. Williamson told Parker that the pair are "really good friends" and Jambo had helped Dawn out a lot, but she and Mellor did not know what was going to happen. Mellor said that Jambo wanted a romantic relationship with Dawn, but added "Dawn's got problems and she doesn't know what she wants."

In 1997, the character was central to an issue-based storyline focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of leukaemia. At the time, more than 5,000 people in the UK were diagnosed with the disease every year. Williamson called the storyline "very strong" and admitted that there were times where she was emotionally drained from filming, however, she welcomed the challenge the storyline provided her. She commented: "A big storyline like this gives you something to really get your teeth into acting-wise." The actress worked with The Leukaemia Care Society to accurately portray how her character would be feeling. She found that the worst thing about the disease was having to tell loved ones and seeing their emotions. She explained that for Dawn, there are feelings of "this overwhelming, looming sense of guilt about what she is putting her boyfriend Jambo and her family through." As the story progresses, treatment options for Dawn are explored, including a bone marrow transplant. Her sister Jude is found to be a match, but Dawn must undergo chemotherapy first. Williamson said the chemo is "awful" and means Dawn could be in and out of hospital for years. She branded her character "a real fighter" and said she was determined to beat the disease.