007: Good News for Stoke & Staffordshire
Featuring: Staffordshire Collage Club, big wins for Stone High Street, Community Coming Together to Clean Up Hanley, 5 bed in Cannock Chase and help out DCB & LDK.
This week in The Knot 👇🏼
What’s On/Things To Do ✅
Staffordshire Collage Club, Pig Walk Parade and Longton Carnival, Earth Day at Keele.Good News 🎉
Three big boosts for Stone High Street, More Bus Services.Spotlight 🔦
Community Coming Together to Clean Up Hanley.Food Highlight 🥪
Write our next one?Jobs 💸
Comms and Engagement Co-ordinator at VASTProperty 🏡
5 bed nestled in Cannock Chase.Knot Having It ❌
How to help out two Hanley business owners
📰 READ NOW: ALL SYSTEMS GO OR STALLED - WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE REGENERATION VISION FOR STOKE-ON-TRENT?
By Frances Barrett , originally published in The Lead.
It takes more than a few projects to address what are deep structural economic and social problems." (Read full article)
WHAT’S ON/THINGS TO DO ✅
Staffordshire Collage Club. 14th May, 6.30pm - 8.30pm, Newcastle-under-Lyme. I bet you didn’t know there was a contemporary collage magazine based here? Top marks if you did. With a 25,000+ following, Contemporary Collage Magazine are hosting their first ever event and want to build a collage community here in Stoke. Epic. More amazing creatives in the Creative County. Check them out on Website and Instagram.
Pig Walk & Longton Carnival. Sunday 21st April, Longton. A full day’s programme profiling local talent alongside world-class artists. It is the town’s chance to celebrate it’s new march into the future. Brass Bands, DJs, a techno-flavoured afterparty at Gladstone Pottery, Kareoke, circus acts, music making workshops. This day is ALIVE and another example of arts-led regeneration across Stoke, in Longton this time, courtesy of Urban WIlderness.
Earth Day. Saturday 20th -Sunday 21st April, Keele University. A weekend full of nature-based activities to get you in touch with the Earth. Discover the stars, listen to the music of trees and listen to plenty more engaging talks around Keele Campus and Observatory.
Good News 🎉
Stone High Street with three big wins in the last month. Wandering Bee have opened their new flagship store on the high street, stocking kick-ass candles in repurposed beer bottles (Antique Bookshop is a must). New family friendly shop and cafe, Little Dots opened to create a welcoming chill-out spot for parents and little ones. Mishka Truffles opened too. A chocolatiere café, bringing luxury, artisan chocolate-making to Stone High Street.
More Bus Services through Stoke-on-Trent as part of £5.7m Bus Service Enhancement Scheme. 7 bus services are getting increased activity. (Stoke Gov)
Good News Spotlight 🔦 People Come Together to Clean Up City Centre 🎉
Volunteers have come together through Stoke-on-Trent City BID (Business Improvement District) to collectively take action and participate in rubbish collection and painting throughout Hanley. It’s part of the BIDs Operation Sparkle campaign and wider Big Spring Clean and IDIOT (Illegal Dumping in Our Town) campaigns to crack down on the number of illegal dumping incidents in the city.
344kgs of rubbish have been removed already and the team of volunteers took a whopping 200,000 steps between them. Alongside rubbish removal they also re-painted benches in vibrant colours and jet-washed dirty areas.
We seem to have a culture in this area where the Council or someone else is to blame for absolutely everything. There’s an under-current of opinion where people deserve to be given our City Centre, as if it is simply ours to consume, without needing to do anything about it. Or, there are those, vulnerable, deprived or criminal that choose to degrade this place through illegal dumping, littering and a complete lack of respect for our home.
Our City is our responsibility. We make a choice to drop a piece of litter or drop a negative comment. We make a choice to pick something up and be part of the clean up. The group of people coming together here to play a part in the clean-up are exactly what we need more of - active community members taking responsibility for our City. Not waiting around for someone else to sort it out, not pointing any fingers. Getting it done, because it’s ours to get done. We own it. Bravo.
The doubters and nay-sayers will look at this and say “yeah but a few people litter-picking isn’t going to sort Hanely out”. To that, I completely disagree. This is where it starts. People make the difference. One brave litter picker inspires a supportive shopper, who then has a birthday meal at a Hanley restaurant for a party of 10. This is a movement and we, the people, will regenerate Hanley and this region. Who else will?
Write our next Food Highlight? 🍋
Want to write the next food highlight in The Knot? Pick your favourite Stoke or Staffordshire cafe or restaurant and tell us all about it. Respond to this email with the place you’d like to cover.
JOBS 💰
Communications and Engagement Coordinator – VAST. £24k - 26k FTE, 30 hours per week. Supporting the delivery of the VCSE Healthy Communities Alliance on behalf of lead partners VAST and Support Staffordshire
PROPERTY 🏡
Modern 5 bedroom detached house nestled in Cannock Chase.
KNOT HAVING IT ❌
Two Hanley-based businesses need your support. We are KNOT NOT supporting them. Drop City Books had a flood in there bookshop. THIS is how you can support them. Top man at Little Dumpling King is knackered and needs a break, tell him how awesome he is and leave a 5 star review. Tell me people don’t care about our City Centre and see how much people want to support these two business owners? Knot having it.
I find it hard to write this and not cheer myself up. If I’m honest, sometimes I read SOT Live to see if there’s anything I’ve missed. I find myself in the comments section and the negativity thoroughly depresses me, I think “James, why bother? People will never change”. Then I spend time actually writing the issue, reading all the great stuff people send to me and crafting a piece of positivity and inspiration. I see people coming together, people dedicated and committed to creating excitment, opportunities and community where they live and I think “wow there are some f*cking good people in this world”. I start off in the dark and end up in the light. Thanks to everyone who’s making it happen. Writing this every week, you inspire me.
Cheers,
James Routledge, Editor of The Knot.
FRIENDS OF THE KNOT 👋🏼
Thank you to support from our friends.
I have to say, reading this every week also puts a smile on my face. It’s so good to see the exciting things happening in our area and so good that you’re highlighting them! Genuinely look forward to this every Monday!