Unifying Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire

We need to end the sibling rivalries and focus on collaboration There is more that unities Stoke and Staffordshire, than what divides us.

I grew up in Meir Heath, Staffordshire, with family from Stoke.

I went to secondary school and college in Cheadle, Staffordshire Moorlands.

My childhood was spent with friends and family across Stoke and Staffordshire. We’d go to birthday’s in restaurants, parties in village halls dotted around the entire region. On the weekends I’d play football on school pitches and parks from Werrington to Tunstall to Biddulph to Talke to Fulford.

At 17 our nights out might start in the Lightwood Tavern and end “up Castle” (Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffordshire) or “up Town” (Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent).

I grew up across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

When I went to University and I had to explain where I was from, the answer was Stoke.

My dialect and accent was Stoke, my values were Stoke and my identity was Stoke.

Yet all my life, Stoke-on-Trent City Council never took our bins out and my parents never paid their council tax into Stoke. We were in the Stafford Borough.

I’m not from Stafford Borough, I’m from Stoke.

Even some of my friends who grew up deep into Staffordshire Moorlands, ask them where they’re from and they’ll say, Stoke.

Home isn’t just the patch of land where your house is. The “place” you’re from isn’t simply the lines on a map you find yourself in.

Your place is created by your family, culture, connection and identity. It’s deep and complex. Geography doesn’t always cut it.

Someone in Newcastle-under-Lyme might bristle if you say they live in Stoke.

Find someone who lives in Leek and their only connection to Stoke might be a great grandmother in their family tree or a fornightly trip to the Bet365 stadium.

Meet someone in Lichfield and they might be surprised to understand why Lichfield is even part of Staffordshire, “isn’t this part of Birmingham?” they could say.

The history of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire seems to focus on what divides us, rather than what unites us.

All you need to do is look on a map. The City of Stoke-on-Trent sits like a small island in the vast county of Staffordshire that stretches from Mow Cop to Kinver.

These divides to me feel inherently wrong and backward. Practically I don’t believe they represent the people that live in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

Almost everyone who lives in Stoke-on-Trent will very likely spend social or recreational time in Staffordshire.

Many people who live in Staffordshire have a deep link to Stoke-on-Trent or at the very least a tenuous one.

The challenges faced across SOT and Staffordshire are likely very similar, despite SOT being more economically deprived, challenges like transport, better paid jobs, aspiration and talent retention are the same across the board.

From what I can tell, the whole region is economically and culturally deprived compared to other places. Places like Rugeley, Cannock and Stafford need regeneration just like Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Areas like Stone, Lichfield or Trentham are more affluent within the region yet compare them to similar areas in the West Midlands or Greater Manchester like Wilmslow or Sutton Colfield and they don’t seem in the same league.

London’s little finger has more money, entertainment, experiences and job opportunities than our whole county and that is not fair.

One of the busiest places in Stoke & Staffordshire on a weekend are the train stations. People are leaving the area to spend their money and find experiences or entertainment elsewhere.

I’m not an economist or a politician. Yet I spend my life travelling across this entire county and I see these divides and challenges every day.

I’m interested in what unites Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. I don’t care for the petty reasons or history I hear that divide it. How could we all work together to improve the livelihoods of everyone in this entire region?

Manchester and Birmingham are crucial to the growth of the UK economy and are key drivers in closing the gap between the rest of the country and London. We are sandwiched in-between the two and I fear without cohesion and unification, we will continue to be left behind as simply a place to pass through.

Where are you from? “Near Manchester” “Near Birmingham” - this is simply not good enough.

Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire needs to reclaim our place on the map where we stand on our two feet with our own identity to be proud of.

One region, one voice, one mission, one identity.

Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire. That’s where I’m from.