Together Active Debuts Happiness Manifesto

Plus better cycling and walking routes are coming, new Indian veggie restaurant for Hanley, new domestic abuse strategy, and free digital skills programme for teens set to launch…

The Knot and Helen Dalley

Jan 19, 2026

Good News 🎉

🚶‍♂️ The charity Together Active, which works across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to make physical activity more accessible to promote physical and mental wellbeing, has launched its Happiness Manifesto today on Blue Monday, often slated as the most depressing day of the year. Written with staff and focusing on practical commitments that support wellbeing at work, it shows that happiness and wellbeing are central to how we work, treat each other, and serve our communities. It includes advice on personal commitments (making sure we take a lunch break) and investing in ourselves and others (celebrating others’ wins, for example). You can read the full manifesto here.

Think you could be happier? Check out Together Active’s Happiness Manifesto

🐶 THE KNOT’S PEOPLE OF THE WEEK - Daniel Waterman and Gary Carse 🐶

A new visitor mascot for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, Staffy, has been brought to life by award-winning Stoke-on-Trent animation studio Carse & Waterman. Daniel says Staffy was created using a mix of local photography, traditional digital techniques, and AI tools. “Our ‘Waterworld’ image began with a real photograph; we then posed Staffy using Photoshop and used AI refinement to composite him perfectly into the scene.” He added, “It’s been a learning curve blending these technologies to give Staffordshire a mascot that is eye-catching and appealing enough to engage people around the UK and the rest of the world.”
To coincide with Staffordshire Day’s 10th anniversary, The Staffy Trail will launch on Staffordshire Day on 1 May, a new public art experience that will feature large-scale doggy sculptures across Stoke, Stafford and Tamworth. Each sculpture will be designed by local artists and inspired by ideas submitted by schoolchildren.

Gary and David with Staffy, and the pup at Waterworld

🚶 Better Cycling and Walking Routes for Stoke. To boost active travel plus physical and mental health, Stoke-on-Trent City Council is aiming to add more accessible walking and cycling routes following a consultation last summer as well as Department for Transport guidance on travel trends and road safety. Route changes are planned from Trentham to Stoke and Hanley to Burslem, while walking route improvements around the Trent and Mersey Canal Towpath and the University of Staffordshire to the town centre are also planned. To find out more about the city’s first Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, go here.

More cycling routes are set to be rolled out in Stoke-on-Trent

🕹️ Teens, Build A Gaming Career. The Coalfields Game Academy hopes to help young gamers leverage their talents with a free digital skills programme launching next month. Funded by the government’s department for Science, Innovation and Technology through its digital inclusion innovation fund, gamers will work with others to design their own game, meet people from the industry, and attend workshops on topics including setting up their own game development team and testing a game for bugs. There’s more info here.

The Coalfields Game Academy aims to turn gamers’ passion into new opportunities with its free digital skills programme

👩‍🦰 New Domestic Abuse Strategy. Staffordshire County Council has unveiled a new partnership Domestic Abuse Strategy for 2025-2029 to tackle domestic abuse and help victims. The strategy sets out a plan to protect victims, prevent abuse, and hold perpetrators to account, working with partners across health, police, councils, charities and communities. The strategy can be read here.

🥘 New Indian Veggie Restaurant for Hanley. With restaurants in Cardiff, Solihull, and Windsor, veggie South Indian eatery Crispy Dosa is now in Stoke – Bucknall Road, specifically. In addition to a wide range of dosas, including plain, masala and cheese, you can order idlis (steamed rice cakes) and vadas (daal fritters). Book a table or order a takeaway through the usual vendors.
Chow down on veggie South Indian food at Crispy Dosa in Hanley

🥨 A word from Helen, editor/writer at The Knot

Are you happy? It’s a question we often ask ourselves, particularly at the start of a year when we may evaluate where our life is going. So, what really makes us happy? More than 85 years of research into wellbeing suggests that the strongest positive impact comes from investing in our relationships with others, according to US psychiatrist and Zen priest Robert Waldinger, author of The Good Life.

As we mentioned last week, today is Blue Monday, characterised by dark mornings, cold weather, and the post-Christmas hangover. Yeah, it can feel bleak, but the upside is that it encourages conversations about mental health and prompts us to think about the positive changes we can make to improve our happiness.

In Stoke-on-Trent, fewer adults meet recommended activity levels than the national average, and rates of depression are higher than elsewhere in England. Together Active believes these issues are closely linked to working life, stress and lack of balance. Its manifesto focuses on rethinking how we work day to day — from celebrating one another’s successes to trialling a four-day working week.

How could your workplace better support your mental health? Are you craving greater recognition, or would you welcome a shorter working week? As ever, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Really Good News 🎉 Your favourite news from the last week

Meet our New Poet Laureate! Steve Beattie will replace Nick Degg in May…
Beavers to Restore Staffordshire Bog: They’re moving to Craddocks Moss
Join the Dead Slow Running Community: The first meet is 25/01 outside the Kings Hall

Discussion about this post

Ready for more?