Longton Bid to Become First UK Town of Culture
Plus UNHM Launches Maternity Bus, beavers set to restore peat bog, a new mural for Keele created by our person of the week Tom Edwards, and
Good News 🎉
🏋️♀️ From its pottery heritage to a burgeoning arts and music scene, Longton has plenty going for it, which is why it has put in a bid to become the first UK Town of Culture. Arts organisation Urban Wilderness CIC, which helped organise the People’s Parade – is leading the bid with local partners, building on work already underway in Longton Exchange and across the town centre. The bid will support culture and economy across Longton and the wider city. The winning town will receive £3.5 million to deliver a cultural programme in 2028, while those shortlisted will receive £60,000 to help deliver their full bids.
🎨 🖌️ THE KNOT’S PERSON OF THE WEEK – Tom Edwards 🎨 🖌️
It took artist and local lad Tom Edwards 40 litres of emulsion and 30 cans of spray paint to create this gorgeous 44m-long owl mural near Barnes Halls A-F at Keele uni – and we’re making him our person of the week for brightening up January! He said that this commission was ‘an absolute pleasure’ to produce. “I love painting murals inspired by nature and the Keele campus has so much of that to explore. It’s great that Arts Keele can support local artists with commissions like this too. It was a challenge to paint, mainly due to the awkward shape and position of the wall. It gets no sun and was completed in the middle of winter, so it got a little bit cold at times.” He added, “my hope is that it makes the residents smile when they see it and also draw attention to some of the beautiful wildlife found on campus.” Massive well done, Tom, we’re sure students will love it!
🤰🏻 UNHM Launches Maternity Bus. Midwives and specialist teams will be onboard the Maternity and Community Screening Initiative (MACSI) bus to offer advice on early pregnancy booking, screenings, vaccinations and support for those at higher risk including young women, asylum seekers, and women with learning disabilities. There’s no need for an appointment, and you don’t have to live locally to visit. The bus will run on selected dates until April, and everyone is welcome to come onboard, with locations chosen based on community need.
🦫 Beavers to Restore Staffordshire Bog. A family of beavers will be welcomed to Craddocks Moss, a 47-acre degraded peat bog near Newcastle later this year, thanks to hundreds of donations and a grant from Veolia Environmental Trust. In recent years, saplings and brambles have crept over the bog, drying out the peat and releasing carbon into the atmosphere. While the deep pools of water make this a difficult place for staff and volunteers to work, beavers won’t have any issues and will help prevent the bog from being lost to woodland. Updates on the project progress will be posted on social media and on a dedicated webpage.
☕️ Blue Monday Becomes Brew Monday. Newcastle-under-Lyme Business Improvement District (BID) will be hosting a Brew Monday event on 19/01 to lift people’s spirits on the third Monday in January, often said to be the most depressing day of the year. From 10am to 11am, the BID team will be based at Keele in Town, handing out free hot drinks and signposting attendees to mental health support organisations and food support and community initiatives such as BArts' Community Pantry. The event will also be supported by Circle of Friends, which will be offering an informal drop-in alongside the activity; it hosts regular sessions at Newcastle Library on the last Friday of every month.
👩👩👦👦 Could Fostering be your New Year’s Resolution? ‘Open your heart, share your home’ is the latest campaign from Staffordshire County Council to help find families for some of the county’s most vulnerable children. Supporting the campaign are Stafford-based foster carers Amy and Ben Grainger, who’ve been fostering for several years. Throughout January, prospective families can meet the fostering team; there’s more info on the county council’s fostering website.
Could you offer a vulnerable child a home like Amy and Ben Granger?
🥨 A word from Helen, editor/writer at The Knot
How’s your January going? We know it’s only the 12th, that many of us were paid before Christmas, and that payday still feels a long way off — but we hope you’re doing okay and hanging in there. It’ll be March before we know it, and already the evenings are lingering just a little longer than they were a couple of weeks ago.
We’ve been following local artist Rob Pointon’s initiative, Paint Through the Dark Month, and applaud his commitment to heading out in all weathers to capture our fine city under cover of rain, sleet, and snow. Rob says the challenge of a daily deadline motivates him to get outside and keep working hard throughout the winter months.
You can even paint alongside Rob on a Saturday at a location within walking distance of the museum. Some of the works created on these outdoor painting sessions will be chosen to be exhibited alongside the exhibition. There will be an official opening of the show once the last painting is hung on the 31/01, plus further talks and workshops throughout the remainder of the exhibition. Check the museum’s website exhibition link here for all the latest updates.
Really Good News 🎉 Your favourite news from the last week
Food Waste Collections are Coming! There’s more info here and many clicked on!
A Growing Green Wave in Staffs Moorlands: The Greens are gaining traction
Painting to Brighten January: Rob Pointon is completing a painting a day throughout January, and the artworks are being shown at the Brampton Museum
Weekly Weather (Stoke-on-Trent)
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Sat ❄️ 4° (3°) Sun 🌧️ 6° (3°).
Sunrise 12/01 ☀️08:18 Sunset 12/01 🌅 16:17