Stoke Receives Support for City's Homeless
Plus more inclusive public transport programme launches across Staffordshire, rare Bronze Age relic set for Potteries Museum, and ceramics heritage heroes wanted…
Today, The Knot is brought to you by Hanley Economic Building Society, which offers mortgages, savings accounts including ISAs, insurance, and more
Good News 🎉
Homelessness Support Extended. The Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) is set to continue until March 2029 after Stoke-on-Trent City Council was awarded more than £580,000 from the government. Providing accommodation and support to two key groups – long-standing rough sleepers with complex cases and vulnerable people who are homeless or sleeping on the streets – the scheme is run by local charity Brighter Futures and has helped 107 people since it launched in 2023. It focuses on long-term outcomes rather than short-term fixes, with residents being supported to sustain their accommodation, build confidence, and develop practical life skills.
🐶 THE KNOT’S PERSON OF THE WEEK – Ryan Wilson 🐶
A software engineer from Draycott in the Moors has launched a free app, WhatTheVet, which enables pet owners to compare vet prices across the UK. Ryan says he’s spent the last few months scraping and cataloguing pricing data from thousands of UK vet practices. “The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) wrapped up its investigation into vet pricing earlier this year and concluded that pet owners are being kept in the dark. WhatTheVet does what the government is now mandating the industry to do.” As the owner of a Cockapoo, Maisy, the face of WhatTheVet, he’s felt the pinch of unexpected vet bills. Ryan was keen to build something that helped people weigh up their options before booking a trip to the vets. The app is now on iOS, Android, and Web and covers every practice nationwide.
💷 Get in Control of Your Cash. If it’s been a while since you reviewed your savings, mortgage, or everyday banking, now is a good opportunity to take a closer look with Hanley Economic Building Society. Pop in and have a chat with the team about your options, whether that’s making your savings work harder, reviewing your plans, or simply getting a better understanding of what’s available to you. You can book a free savings appointment at your local branch anytime.
🚍More Inclusive Public Transport. A new campaign to help make public transport more inclusive for people with disabilities has launched across Staffordshire. The Celebrating Differences: Inclusive Travel campaign has been developed by people who have lived experience of disabilities, sight loss, and neurodivergence and aims to help more residents feel confident getting around. One of the resources available is a set of Travel Assistance Cards to support people travelling by bus, which enables them to discreetly show drivers the support they need without having to ask out loud. This can include asking for extra time to sit down or for the driver to face them when speaking.
🪵 Bronze Age Artefact Set for Potteries Museum. A 3,000-year-old solid gold dress fastener found near Ellastone will stay in the county thanks to a successful fundraising campaign. The money has been raised through support from the Art Fund, the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant, National Lottery players, and the Friends of PMAG. It will go on public display at the museum when it reopens in spring 2027 following its multi-million-pound transformation. In the meantime, the museum team will deliver outreach activities supported by National Lottery players to help people explore the dress fastener and Staffordshire’s Bronze Age past.
🦸♀️ Wanted: Heritage Heroes. The Our Time, Our Place, Our Heritage project is searching for 10 Living Heritage Heroes aged 65 and over with experience in working in Stoke’s ceramics industry. Delivered by Stoke Creates in partnership with British Ceramics Biennial, the project is hosting a free drop-in information session on 10/06, 4pm-6pm at BCB Studios, Spode Works. If you fit the bill, or know someone who does, contact project manager Sarah Bonam.
🥨 A word from Helen, editor/writer at The Knot
Everybody deserves a safe place to call home, yet many people in Stoke-on-Trent continue to find themselves either homeless or living in insecure accommodation. A declining supply of social housing and supported accommodation over the past decade has left many people reliant on the private rented sector as their only realistic option. However, even that is becoming increasingly unaffordable, with average rents in the city rising to £669 a month in April 2025 — an annual increase of 12.4%.
So why are people ending up on the streets? According to the council’s Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025–2030 report, the most common reasons in 2024 were family and friends no longer being willing or able to accommodate them, and the loss of a private rented tenancy. Meanwhile, 1,789 people were on waiting lists for supported housing provision in that same time frame.
A snapshot count conducted last year recorded 35 people sleeping rough in Stoke-on-Trent — the highest figure in Staffordshire, compared with 13 in Stafford. The number of female rough sleepers across Staffordshire has doubled over the past five years, while around 71% of people experiencing homelessness now present with multiple issues, such as mental health problems and substance misuse.
While it is encouraging to see funding secured through the Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) here in Stoke, more still needs to be done to tackle homelessness across the city. Some of the most successful initiatives elsewhere have taken a multi-agency approach. In East Sussex, for example, Eastbourne Borough Council’s Wellbeing and Employment Project won national recognition from Homeless Link for helping bridge gaps between health, homelessness, wellbeing, and employment services. Meanwhile, Dorset Council’s Key4Me scheme works with landlords to support tenants at risk of becoming homeless along with help for deposits and rent in advance.
What do you think Stoke-on-Trent should do to tackle homelessness? Let us know in the comments below.
Really Good News 🎉 Your favourite news from the last week
🤘 Burslem bets on Lemmy’s Legacy: The first-ever Burslem Urban Rock Festival was a headbangin’ success – and the Queen’s Theatre is now poised for a rock revamp
🥨 Celebrating Stoke (again): Stoke-on-Trent day is go again on 05/06; more here
🐦June Walks with Staffs Wildlife Trust: Most popular with Knotters was the Bird-Themed Walk on 08/06 (10am-12pm) at Ford Green Brook North
Weekly Weather (Stoke-on-Trent):
Mon 🌧️ 18° (13°) Tue 🌩️ 17° (10°) Wed 🌩️ 18° (10°) Thu 🌩️ 17° (9°) Fri 🌩️ 17° (10°)
Sat 🌩️ 18° (10°) Sun 🌩️ 18° (10°).
Sunrise 01/06: 04.50 ☀️ Sunset 25/05: 21.24 🌅