002: Good News for Stoke & Staffs
Californian Wine nights, welovestoke, the Council gets a loan, Proven Pizza, loads of jobs and £500k for Hanley Town Hall
This week in The Knot 👇🏼
What’s On/Things To Do ✅
Californian Wine and Art Dinner at Lunar, CH3 ALL DAY LONG at The Jug, Local Markets.Spotlight 🔦
Steven and Kim from welovestoke.Good News 🎉
Fifty500 projects gains support, SOTCC not bankrupt, Capital and Centric looking for indies in the Goods Yard.Food Highlight 🥢
Proven Pizzeria.Jobs 💸
GivEnergy, DJH Mitten Clarke, Keele Uni and JCB.Property 🏡
£500k for Hanley Town Hall.Knot Having It ❌
Ever wondered why golf courses have 18 holes?
📰 READ NOW: Alternative View on Stoke-on-Trent Council Budget
The fresh take on SOTCC's latest budget in comparison to Staffordshire, Birmingham and Manchester peers, why reporting with context matters.(Read full article)
READ NEXT. Keep an eye out for our first thought piece on “Hanley’s Opportunity”, landing in your inbox at 8am on Wednesday.
WHAT’S ON/THINGS TO DO ✅
Californian Wine Dinner - Lunar Art & Wine Society. 27 March 2024, 6.30pm, LUNAR, World of Wedgwood. 5 courses paired with 5 wines from California as part of LUNAR’s Art and Wine Society. Not many know that LUNAR also champion art from local artists. I really like that LUNAR are bringing something a bit “high end” to the table.
CH3 ALL DAY LONG at The Jug, afters at The Crypt Club. All Day and Night, 31st March. CH3 are a collective of DJs who put on parties and nights and Crypt Club is a new late night venue hoping to become Stoke’s home for underground dance music. I feel hungover just looking at this. 10 years ago, yes. For now, I’ll just write about it and hope any house/dance music lovers or simply people younger than me will like the look of this. It’s good to see that this scene is alive in Stoke and Staffs.
Staffordshire Markets. A reminder that popular markets take place in Leek, Cheadle, Biddulph, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Stone, Stafford and Lichfield regularly. Stone Farmers Market on the first weekend of the month is a personal favourite for me. Get up, get down there, buy some locally produced sourdough and then a pot of picked or preserved goods that you may or may not use. Shop local and support local artisans, they’re good people.
Editors Note: If that isn’t the most diverse and eclectic mix of events you’ve ever seen please email me directly with your views.
Spotlight 🔦
Steven and Kim are the couple behind popular instagram page welovestoke with 8,000+ followers. Adopted Stokies after moving here and falling in love, their passion, positivity and creative flair is infectious.
They’re a refreshing mirror that reflects what this area looks like to a fresh pair of eyes. They’re being spotlighted today not just because their instagram is a handy thing to follow if you live in or nearby to Stoke for things to do, but mainly because they’re great role models for “getting it done”. By their own admission starting the page and putting themselves out there wasn’t the norm and in a recent video on their insta they recount honestly the impact starting welovestoke has had on them.
Making contributions like this to your community isn’t just good for others, it’s good for you. You meet people, you feel like you matter and you feel like you belong. You become part of something bigger. If you have an idea for something that could make a difference to where you live. Do it.
Good News 🎉
SOTCC is not bankrupt (The Knot). Staffordshire County Council in stable financial position. (5th December, Staffs CC)
Fifty500 Initiative to better connect A50/A500 route across Staffordshire as a “Strategic Corridor” gains traction and looks like a very smart move. (Staffs CC)
Capital & Centric are looking for independents to join them at the Goods Yard as work progresses well in Stoke near to the train station. (Capital & Centric)
Food Highlight - Proven Pizzeria 🍕
It’s hard to get Pizza wrong, but it’s also not easy to get it right every time. There’s Pizza and then there’s Neapolitan Pizza with properly good dough, Proven in Stone is the latter. The menu is full of different options with something for everyone. If you’re a basic Margherita kind of person, meat lover or the only Vegan in the family, you’ll all fit in. I’m an Earth Mother lover.
If you’re in or around Stone, takeout is a good choice too with Pizzas made to order sometimes as quickly as 10 mins from calling up. So if you’ve got nothing in and it’s been a long week, you’re going to be ok. Always order a BBQ dip, or two.
Located just off the canal, not on Stone High Street. Park near to Crown Wharf and walk or park for free on the road under the bridge.
JOBS 💸
In this week’s instalment of “there’s no jobs round here” that myth continues to be busted.
GivEnergy are growing so quickly they’re open to speculative CVs.
HR Assistant DJH Mitten Clarke
In Audit or Accountancy - more roles at DJH Mitten Clarke
Hospitality. Slamwich Club, STOCK by Feasted and Little Dumpling King all hiring (as seen on their social media). Get your 17-22 year old old son, brother, daughter, sister, niece or nephew down there.
Last week’s issue for roles at Keele Uni and JCB.
PROPERTY 🏡
I think there’s long term potential for a hotel, spa, members club, restaurant, bar - type location. Yet the investment and long term outlook on Hanley would need to be huge. Unless someone has a big vision for this place, City Centre flats and apartments look the likely option.
KNOT HAVING IT ❌
According to our anonymous source, golf courses have 18 holes because 18 shots makes up a bottle of scotch. Surely knot? ⛳️
Thank you for reading our second issue of The Knot. I’m absolutely knackered. I’ve not written this much for ages and I’m tired (in a good way) from sorting through all the cool stuff that’s coming to me. I’m conscious that I could be doing more to spotlight opportunities in South Staffordshire, that will come though, trust me. For now, Stoke takes centre stage.
Thanks for all the support and encouragement. I keep buying copies of The Sentinel and reading SOT Live to fuel my fire. I realise the same has happened to News in Lichfield with the Mercury now owned by Birmingham Live (Reach PLC again). This just makes me want to compete with them and give people something new. I will and will keep going.
Cheers,
James Routledge, Editor of The Knot.
FRIENDS OF THE KNOT 👋🏼
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