Pure Class: Enrol on Free Courses with Staffordshire Community Learning Service
Plus JCB wins top award, Mötorhead goodies up for grabs, video comp for local charities and students create ceremonial mace for Fenton in centenary year
Good News 🎉 Want local business news? Visit Daily Focus
🏫 Learn Something New for Free! Make 2025 an educational one by signing up for courses including Small Business Ideas, Developing Skills for Administration, Creativity in Nature and Introduction to Forest Bathing. The courses mentioned start next month (so book on quick!) and are delivered across Staffordshire in community centres, libraries and outdoor spaces, as well as online. Explore the full course directory on the community learning webpage. No cost, no excuses!
Learn something new this year with Staffs Community Learning Service
📹 Charities Can Win Video Worth £10k. To commemorate its 20th anniversary, Stoke video production company Reels in Motion is giving two local charities the chance to win professionally produced video projects, each worth up to £10,000. Charities can be nominated by the public, and you can enter here.
🚜 JCB Scoops Top Award. Big digger win! JCB won the Silver Award for Machine of the Year at last week's LAMMA show, one of the biggest and most important agricultural exhibitions in the UK, which was held at NEC Birmingham. The award was made for the new JCB TM280S, which is built with components and assemblies from JCB Group factories in the Midlands and North Wales.
🏞️ Where’s County Council Cash Going? Staffordshire County Council will be spending more on early intervention to support struggling families in 2025. Planned investment, meanwhile, includes over £50 million to build new schools and upgrade others plus an additional £45 million over three years to fix more roads and clear more gulleys to help prevent flooding. There’s also £18 million for country parks and £5 million for the county’s 42 libraries.
🤘 Share Your Best Motörhead Memories, Get Goodies. It’s now 50 years since Motörhead, fronted by Burslem-born Lemmy, got together. If you have a great Lemmy memory or some striking memorabilia, you could win band boxsets, vinyl and more if you email anecdotes and pics here. Winners will also be invited to the official unveiling of the statue in April. Read more deets on the band’s 50th anniversary happenings on our recent story by Jenna here.
📚 Students Create Ceremonial Mace for Fenton. As Fenton is the only Stoke town that lacks a ceremonial mace (awww), students from the BA (Hons) Product Furniture and Ceramics and MA Ceramics courses at the University of Staffordshire are set to create one as part of the city’s centenary celebrations. The two winning teams will collaborate on this landmark project, with the final design unveiled on 05/04 at Fenton Town Hall. Who wants to be mace bearer?
Fenton will get a ceremonial mace 125 years after the six towns reunited
Really Good News 🎉 Your favourite news from the last week
🏊 Get Fit With Active Stoke’s Deals: Many of you were keen to take advantage of Active Stoke’s join now pay later deals at leisure centres across the city
💪 “Stoke Makes Me Stand Out”: On the Knotpod this week is Kirsty Hulse, CEO of Confidence Live and founder of talent acquisition software tool Neuroworx.
📅 The Knot Life: did you know you can list your events for free at The Knot Life? More and more readers are doing it - get yours on too!
Unsung Heroes ⬇️
🏃♀️ Dave Juggins. The 75 year old gold medal duathlete can run a 5km in 21 minutes.
👗 Anya Parker James. Read about the designer that built a fashion career here.
👨🎨 Ian Parker: Mouth painter Ian has illustrated a kid’s book and is a full-time artist.
👩⚕️ Ruth Chambers: The retired GP won an OBE for improving health outcomes.
🥨 Good Vibes Only: A Word from Helen, Writer at The Knot
Can it still really be January??! We’re finally in the twilight days of what always feels like the longest month of the year, with calendars flipping over to Feb this Sat. After countless zero alcohol beers, I’m looking forward to having a pint (ok, maybe two!) this weekend. Having sampled my fair share of booze-free ales the past few weeks, the Big Drop Paradiso Citra IPA emerged as hands-down favourite (but there’s deffo a thumbs up for Corona Cero and Heineken 0.0 too).
How’s your New Year’s Resolutions going? I’m determined to rekindle my French lessons on Duolingo and also impressed by the courses on offer at Staffordshire Community Learning Service. Most are fully funded, thanks to supporters including the Port Vale FC Foundation and Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group. Find your perfect course here and happy learning!
Weekly Weather (Stoke-on-Trent):
Mon ☁️ 7° (5°) Tue ☁️ 7° (3°) Wed ⛅️ 7° (1°) Thu ☀️ 6° (-2°) Fri ⛅️ 8° (0°)
Sat ☁️ 8° (2°) Sun ☁️ 7° (3°).
Sunrise 27/01 ☀️08:00 Sunset 27/01 🌅 16:44
