Our City Issue 13

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Stoke-on-Trent

BEST DESIGNED COUNCIL PUBLICATION

Our City ISSUE 13: FEBRUARY 2010

BABY HUGS HIS 20-TED: Fletcher Haines was one of the first babies born in Stoke-on-Trent in 2010 – the year that we celebrate the federation of the Six Towns. Fletcher and all babies whose birth is registered this year in the city will receive a commemorative pottery teddy bear.

A symbol of our future WIN

a mountain bike with your green ideas PAGE NINE

As regeneration gathers pace, the city’s first baby of 2010 joins proud centenary celebrations See page three and our four-page update special

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Our City F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

Communities can enjoy our city’s special celebration

By City Council Leader Councillor ROSS IRVING

HAPPY New Year to everyone in Stoke-on-Trent.

I hope 2010 is a year of regeneration, progress and success for our city.

It will certainly be a year of celebration, as it marks the hundredth anniversary of 31 March 1910, when the Six Towns of Stoke-on-Trent were federated into one county borough.

The “coming together” paved the way for the formation of our great city, and has never been repeated anywhere in the UK. In this issue of Our City you will read of a packed programme of events being planned to make sure all sections of the community can celebrate this historic occasion.

We also update you on progress being made on the regeneration of Stoke-on-Trent.

Of course the global recession has had an impact on the way we are transforming large areas of the city.

But through initiatives like the University Quarter, Chatterley Valley, City Waterside and plans to rebuild parts of the city centre we are delivering high quality buildings and infrastructure.

Together, all this will strengthen the city’s claim as a major regional centre and will show the world we mean business in breathing new life into towns which have suffered from decline.

On a more sober note, the latest statistics show 500 people in Stoke-on-Trent each year die prematurely directly because of smoking, with thousands more dying or seriously ill with tobacco as a major contributory factor.

That is thousands of families in this city whose lives are turned upside down by something which is totally avoidable. It is absolutely tragic that so many people are missing out on up to 20 years of life because they choose to smoke.

Free help is available from the NHS to help people kick the habit. I frequently call on residents to play their part – to make their contribution to improve life in Stoke-on-Trent.

So if you are a smoker, play your part, give yourself a longer life, and make the most important New Year’s resolution of your life.

Call the quit smoking helpline on 0800 1214582 and start to pack it in.

Finally, may I add my own tribute to Councillor Derek Hall, who passed away in December following an ongoing illness.

He was a dedicated councillor who worked hard for his Blurton ward and was also committed to his role on the city council’s licensing committee. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

Our City is printed on recycled paper. When you have finished with this publication please help the environment by passing it on to a friend or recycling it.

Hoard to go on show in the city N

EVER-before-seen Anglo-Saxon treasures from the stunning archaeological find, known as The Staffordshire Hoard, will go on display at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery this month.

The free exhibition, which opens on 13 February and runs until 7 March, will contain more than 100 artefacts – mostly gold, some silver and decorated with precious stones – dating back to the seventh century Kingdom of Mercia. Some of the items were not included in last year’s inaugural exhibition at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery – and this is the first chance for the public to view them. It is also the largest exhibition of the hoard which in total comprises around 1,800 items to date.

Councillor Hazel Lyth, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Culture, said: “It will be a unique opportunity for people to marvel at such a staggering find. The history of the hoard has made headlines around the world, captured the public’s imagination and will enthrall experts for years to come. Residents in the city can feel privileged that we will be displaying it in Stoke-on-Trent.”

The hoard – the largest ever find of Anglo-Saxon treasure – was unearthed from a field in South Staffordshire after initially being discovered by an amateur metal detectorist.

The artefacts, which are believed to be war booty stripped from the corpses of royal and aristocratic warriors, include three intricately-crafted gold

crosses and 150 sword pommels.

Meanwhile, the city council in partnership with Birmingham City Council is working behind-the-scenes to raise the £3.3 million needed to jointly acquire the hoard and keep it for the region.

City Council Leader, Councillor Ross Irving, said: “Stoke-on-Trent is the legal holder for any historic artefacts discovered in Staffordshire.

I am confident we will be able to successfully bid for money we need.”

A public appeal to raise funds toward the purchase price has been launched and there are collection boxes for donations at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery or people can donate online at www.artfund. org/hoard or by buying the official Staffordshire Hoard book, on sale at the museum for £4.99.

The museum’s opening times during the period of the exhibition are 10am-5pm Monday to Saturday, and 2pm-5pm on Sunday.

An ornate horse’s head fitting made of filigree gold – one of the hoard artefacts which will be on show to the public for the first time.

Josiah’s sculpture rests at his former home

A 10ft brick sculpture of Josiah Wedgwood’s head has taken pride of place outside the master potter’s former home in Etruria.

A panel of councillors, historians, and members of the public chose the site outside Etruria Hall and the Moat House

Meeting dates are now online A full list of dates and times of full city council meetings and committee meetings can be found on our website stoke.gov.uk/meeting dates

Hotel for the statue, which has been in storage since it featured at the National Garden Festival in 1986.

Our picture shows the panel inspecting the work by sculptor Vincent Waropole: left to right are historian Fred Hughes, Moat

House Hotel General Manager Clare Furnell, Councillor Adrian Knapper, BBC Radio Stoke presenter Tim Wedgwood, Councillor Derek Capey and Elsie Walker, of Chesterton, who visited the statue at the National Garden Festival.

Give us your feedback on this issue of Our City by emailing ourcity@stoke.gov.uk or write to: FREEPOST Our City

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Meet 20-Ted E

VERY baby whose birth is registered in Stoke-on-Trent during 2010 will receive a special ceramic teddy bear to commemorate the Centenary of the Federation of the Six Towns.

The 9cm bone china teddy bears – some of which are pictured right with Lord Mayor Councillor Jean Bowers – have been commissioned by the city council and produced by The English Ceramic Company of Dresden.

The limited edition bear figures, complete with a presentation box and a certificate, will be given to parents when they register their child’s birth at Hanley Registry Office. It is expected around 4,000 will be distributed throughout the year.

The teddies are just one of a host of ways the council plans to mark 100 years since the historic 1910 act which brought together Stoke-on-Trent and led to it becoming a city 15 years later.

On the anniversary of the day of Federation – Wednesday 31

He’s the ‘bear essential’ for ceramic city’s celebration

March – there will be a day of celebrations culminating in a civic dinner at the King’s Hall, Stoke, at which the city’s “Citizen of the Century” will be revealed. Anyone who has lived, worked or been educated in Stoke-on-Trent during the past 100 years – whether they are now alive or

dead – can be nominated for this honour. Further details will be announced soon.

Summer will see a glittering evening of entertainment at the King’s Hall with a theme of multi faiths and cultures coming together.

At the end of the year there will be a grand finale including a stunning sound and light extravaganza which, subject to a feasibility study, will be held in the city centre.

Council Leader Ross Irving said: “One hundred years ago a collection of small towns, mainly concerned with pottery manufacture, amalgamated their local government and grew into one of the major cities in the UK. That is really something to celebrate.

“We are putting together events to involve all sections of city’s society and all age groups.”

‘Coming together’ is theme of sports festival A CELEBRATION of Stoke-on-Trent as a great sporting city will be a key part of marking the Federation Centenary.

The year-long Festival of Sport will include a host of special events and tournaments to mark 100 years since Tunstall, Burslem, Hanely, Stoke, Fenton and Longton amalgamated. And “coming together” will be a theme of a packed programme of activities to promote community spirit and sport for all.

“There is a little bit of something for everyone,” said Councillor Derek Capey, Cabinet Member for Sport and Leisure Services. “We want local people, both young and old, to be part of the many events taking place throughout the year – the more participants, the better. Stoke-on-Trent has a great sporting tradition – so what better way to celebrate the Centenary than by promoting sport in the city?”

On Sunday May 30 the “2010k run” will be staged – a 10 kilometre race which is expected to attract a mass turnout. The route has yet to be finalised but it is expected to include the city’s University Quarter, and will also include a shorter 2k route for less serious runners, children and families. High school football teams will be “up for the cup” in June, playing in a tournament for the chance to win a trophy bearing the name of Sir Stanley Matthews.

There will also be an inter-gym challenge in which teams from gyms across the city will compete in disciplines such as rowing, cycling, swimming and cross-training.

Every month existing annual sporting competitions and events – ranging from inter-school contests to major occasions – will be given the “Festival treatment” by

2010 AMBASSADORS OF SPORT: National champions from St Peter’s High School who are to be recruited as Festival of Sport ambassadors, left to right, Alice Hall (athletics and rowing), Lewis Jones (karate), Tom Hall (rowing), Leone Davis (mountain bike racing), Sophie Powell (rowing). making them part of the celebrations.

Community groups from scouts and guides to pubs and clubs are being urged to make their sporting events part of the Festival. “It is not a case of providing funding, but we can give them promotional material to help enhance their events into a Federation Centenary occasion which makes them special in 2010,” said Councillor Capey.

A Festival “taster” programme will give people the chance to sample a new sport – free of charge. Staged at the city council

leisure centres and community venues across the city, the taster events will incorporate a range of activities for all ages, including less mainstream sports like archery, Tai Chi, Dodgeball and Salsa.

Another aspect of the Festival will be the creation of local “ambassadors of sport” who will be promoting events throughout the year. The city council will be selecting the ambassadors from high school pupils with outstanding sporting ability – as well as retired sports people who have made a notable contribution to the city’s sporting

life. Councillor Capey added: “We have already arranged a comprehensive calendar of events for the Festival but new ones are being added all the time and there is plenty in the pipeline. We would be delighted to hear from anyone who wants to be involved.”

If any individual, organisation or group would like to be part of the Festival please telephone 01782 238866 or email festivalofsport@stoke.gov.uk

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Library’s ‘flexible friend’ is

boosting literacy H

UNDREDS of people are fuelling their passion for reading – and boosting their literacy levels at the same time – thanks to the Library Service’s very own “flexible” friend.

The Mobile Library Service covers almost every neighbourhood in the city... bringing books and information to the doorsteps of the residents of Stoke-on-Trent.

Everything from non-fiction and classic novels to modern day fiction and celebrity autobiographies are carried on the well-stocked vehicle. There is even a selection of DVDs available to hire.

And generations of readers are full of praise for the convenience and flexibility the service provides.

“It really is fantastic for us,” said retired fireman Ken Lander who has been using the service along with his wife, Barbara, for more than 15 years.

The couple from Sneyd Green have literally borrowed hundreds of books from the Mobile Library and have yet to put in a request for a title that hasn’t been met.

“The convenience is the main thing,” said Ken. “The mobile stops just a street away from our home in Sneyd Green and is always well stocked. If you find there is a book you want to read and they don’t have it, then your request is dealt with quickly and usually they have it waiting for you next time around.”

Barbara said: “I have been a member of a library since I was a little girl and based on

my experience this service is wonderful.

The staff are really friendly, helpful and informative and will always try to do their best to help you find the kind of books you like to read.”

For busy working mum Sharon Hulme, the mobile library is also a vital link. She regularly visits along with her children Nathan, 9, and Jessica, 6, who are fast developing a passion for reading.

She said: “Because the mobile library is virtually on my doorstep it is quick and convenient to visit. Because I work, I wouldn’t have the time to travel to the other libraries with Nathan and Jessica that often, and they may miss out on their reading.

“We have been using the mobile for just over 12 months and I can definitely tell their reading has got better. In fact it really complements the work they do at school and their teachers have commented on the improvement too.”

The Mobile Library Service covers a different area of the city every day and works on a fortnightly cycle.

For more information about the service contact 01782 238455 or visit stoke.gov.uk/libraries where you can download the latest mobile library routes.

● Childcare ● Family Friendly Benefits ● Parental Rights and Entitlements ● Signposting

FREE

And much more...

Advice lines open 8.45am to 6pm Monday to Thursday 8.45am to 4.30pm Fridays

Suppo rt a advice nd fo familie r s

0800 015 1120 or 01782 232200

stoke.gov.uk

email us at fis@stoke.gov.uk

Ken Lander and his wife Barbara collect books from the mobile library during its visit to Sneyd Green.

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Action that will help transform the city

School Crossing Patrol Warden Angela Smith is congratulated on her new title by pupils, left to right, Joshua Halkett, Joseph Sparkes, Ashleigh Oliver and Caitlin Bennett.

By City Council Chief Executive

John Van De Laarschot

Lollipop lady licks the opposition to win top award LOLLIPOP lady Angela Smith has licked the opposition by winning a top award in the same year that she celebrated 31 years of helping generations of children safely across the road.

Angela, a familiar sight at Sutherland Primary School in Blurton, won the 2009 West Midlands Lollipop Person of the Year award.

The popular School Crossing Patrol

Warden was presented with the regional Kwik Fit Insurance Lollipop Person of the Year accolade during a special assembly at the school where she also works as a senior lunchtime supervisor and kitchen assistant.

Pupils interviewed their favourite lollipop lady about her career and wrote news reports and poems in order to nominate her for the West Midlands title.

Angela said: “Many of the pupils I see every day have parents who I helped to cross when they were at school, but even after all these years I enjoy the job and seeing the children’s smiling faces.”

Head teacher Garry Boote said: “Angela is an important part of the school and is well loved by the children, staff and parents. She is extraordinarily dependable and thoroughly deserves this award.”

Patients urged to access most suitable NHS service

P

EOPLE across Stoke-on-Trent are again being urged to think twice before going to Accident and Emergency.

Health bosses say around 76 patients a day turn up at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire’s A&E department at Hartshill when they would be better off using other NHS services.

It is one of the busiest A&E departments in the West Midlands and is under even more pressure during the winter.

Choose well.

So a campaign called “Choose Well” has been launched to encourage people to better choose where they need to go.

The main advice is simple – only use A&E for serious injuries or conditions including choking,

chest pain, loss of consciousness, severe blood loss, broken bones, deep wounds or suspected stroke. Anything else and people are being asked to go to their GP, the nurse-led Haywood Walk-in Centre for minor injuries or call NHS Direct.

You can also go to the new Hanley Health and Wellbeing Centre in Stafford Street which provides a walk in service for treatment and you don’t have to be registered with a GP there.

The centre is open seven days a week from 8am until 8pm.

Ban the pan to cut kitchen fire risk BAN THE PAN… that is the message from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service in the run up to National Chip Week.

Chip pan fires cause an average of 25 fires a year in Stoke-on-Trent. Four people have died in the city over the last five years in fires started by chip pans, with 49 people injured.

The fire service’s Risk Reduction Manager Kelvin Knapper said:“We urge people to use

deep fat fryers instead. They are much safer because they are thermostatically controlled, meaning they can’t overheat.”

Firefighters will be staging demonstrations during National Chip Week – which runs from 15 to 21 February – to show people how dangerous a chip pan can be.“We hope by showing people what can happen, it will re-inforce our message,” said Mr Knapper.

People are also being advised to keep a well-stocked medical cabinet so they can treat minor problems themselves at home.

NHS Stoke on Trent Chief Executive Graham Urwin said: “This campaign is all about raising awareness across the city to drive home the message that there are alternative services available to A&E which are more appropriate for people’s needs.”

“Research shows that there are several factors why people go to A&E including lack of awareness, or not knowing when alternatives can be accessed.”

For more information on the Choose Well campaign go to: www.stoke.nhs.uk You can also get help from: The Haywood Walk-in Centre – 01782 673500 NHS Direct – 0845 4647 GP Out of Hours Service – 01782 719100 Pharmacists – for advice on common winter illnesses and the best medicines to treat them.

THIS is my first column in Our City since I was appointed Chief Executive of Stoke-on-Trent City Council last year. I have been made very welcome here.

Change takes time and we are all impatient for Stoke-on-Trent to become a better place. I want to bring you up to date with my three key priorities that will help to transform the city. First, the city council needs to be a confident, effective and outward-looking organisation.

That means greater openness and us taking more account of the views of the public. We have begun that process with our largest ever consultation on people’s views relating to the city council’s spending priorities. In future we will be asking and involving local people more in decisions that affect their communities.

Second, we must speed up the transformational change in the way the city council works. We must listen more, trust people more and work with local people and our partners to provide the right services, in the way people want them.

Crucially, in these times of spending restraint, we must also provide good value for money. We have made savings in this year’s budget and we will continue to improve efficiency as money becomes tighter in future.

Third, we need to build a strong reputation as a council for the partnerships we build that provide better quality services for our residents and communities.

Council members and officers need to hold their heads high and be proud of the work they do for Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Members are our community leaders, whether they are doing council work, or working in partnership with the police, NHS, business or voluntary groups.

If we stay focused on these priorities I am sure we will achieve the changes we all want to see.

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Our City F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

Jean Milton with her personalised Celtic engagement ring.

Exhibition design work inspired a romantic proposal to Jean FOR months Jean Milton, Collections Officer at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, has been listening to people’s real-life love stories as part of her research for the current excellent exhibition called Romantic Proposal.

Tender moments of courtship were confided to Jean – as well as more raunchy tales which would make even Cupid blush.

Some, in fact, were entirely inappropriate and usually involved the excessive consumption of alcohol.

However, I hear Jean’s work for the exhibition played its part in one very special romantic proposal of marriage – made to herself from her boyfriend Derek Dick. Jean had been drawing designs for Celtic rings incorporating loveknots and birthstones – which gave Derek an inspirational idea for how and when he would pop the question.

He whisked off Jean for a

weekend workshop to make their own Celtic rings at Flux ‘n’ Flame, located at Luccombe Farm in the historic thatched Dorset village of Milton Abbas. When Jean’s ring – which had a loveknot, a moonstone (her birthstone) and a red sapphire, a symbol of eternity – was complete, Derek seized the moment In time-honoured style, he bent down on one knee to ask Jean for her hand in marriage, slipping the ring on her finger.

Her answer was “yes”.

“It was an irresistible proposal – something I will never forget,” said Jean,“After all the lovely romantic stories I have been told for the exhibition, it is nice to have one of my own.”

There is still time for local people to make a contribution to the exhibition which opened last month and runs until 18 April.

Contact Jean at the museum by telephoning 01782 232323 or go to the website www.romanticproposal.org.uk

Garlic and oatcakes? Oatcakes and garlic? Not in my lifetime!

WISE in the ways of the oatcake, the owner of one of my favourite Stoke-on-Trent oatcake shops is a purist when it comes to the product of “the stone” (that’s hotplate for the uninitiated).

His recipe for his oatcake mix, which has been handed down the generations, involves meticulous preparation and six hours of fermentation.

On special occasions for “a bit of fun” he will break from tradition by adding a measure

or two of whisky to a bowl of mix to make a festive batch of oatcakes. He is quite willing to try most flavourings with the mix... except one – garlic.

“Never garlic – it contaminates the mix,” he told me in the gravest of tones. It’s reminiscent of comedian Peter Kay’s famous garlic bread routine.“Garlic and bread?

Bread and garlic? Not in my lifetime.”

Garlic oatcakes? Better to have none at all.

LEARNING THROUGH PLAY: Natalie Beckwith and her daughter Chelsea use everyday items in their play sessions.

Parenting initiative is

really child’s play N

ATALIE Beckwith loves nothing better than being a big kid.

Give her some pots and pans and she will happily imagine she is cooking in the kitchen.

Play dough keeps her in raptures for ages. Let her loose with an empty cardboard box and her imagination runs riot.

Strange behaviour, you may think for an obviously intelligent 21-year-old woman. But she is one of a growing number of mums and dads in Stoke-on-Trent who have discovered how understanding their own children’s play is vital to their child’s development through the Parents Involved in Children’s Learning (PICL) programme.

Natalie was introduced to PICL after enrolling three-year-old daughter Chelsea in the preschool nursery at The Crescent Children’s Centre in Meir. The Crescent has piloted the

Stoke your fires FEBRUARY will see a month long programme of activities to celebrate the third annual Stoke Your Fires animation festival, a demonstration of local, national and international animation talent.

There will be a range of animation related events and activities at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery throughout the festival, including free drop-in workshops and film screenings in the Forum Theatre.

For further information on how to get involved, visit www.stokeyourfires.com

programme and now it is to be rolled out to all of the city council’s 13 children’s centres.

Childcare professionals believe parents want to be involved in their child’s development, but are not always sure how to do it effectively. Research suggests that the bond between a child and its parents is the most critical influence in a child’s life.

Put simply, PICL brings together, in an equal partnership, a parent’s unique knowledge of their own child with the knowledge of the professional which are seen as complementary but equally important.

Accurate picture Through sharing this information a broad and accurate picture of a child’s interests and development builds up for parent and practitioner.

“Yes, it is a bit like reverting to my childhood,” admitted single mother Natalie, “but I have seen Chelsea develop so well since we went on the PICL programme twelve months ago.”

As well as pots, pans and play dough, Chelsea also loves lining up tea coasters into straight lines.

Childcare professionals would recognise this as a possible example of a “trajectory schema”, or in the simplest terms an

interest in lines. PICL has helped Natalie to understand this, and recognise it too.

“Once Chelsea emerged from behind a chair covered in Sudocrem ointment,” recalled Natalie. “Of course she was put straight in the bath, but I understood why she was doing this – she likes to cover herself with things like paint and soap, something I now know is an ‘envelopment schema’.”

Natalie says her experience of PICL has encouraged her to enrol on a child development course to increase her knowledge.

She describes herself as “100 per cent behind PICL” and is keen to spread the word. She has already addressed a Sure Start children’s centre conference at the Britannia Stadium, sharing her positive experiences.

Crescent Children’s Centre Manager Tracy Jackson said: “Parents have a right to be supported in doing the best they can for their children. PICL offers a unique opportunity for parents and professionals to work together in true and equal partnership, benefiting from each other’s knowledge.

“Most importantly, what we have seen during the pilot at The Crescent is the positive effect PICL has on the children.”

Expert help to quit smoking QUIT SMOKING... you know you want to. And with the help on offer these days from Stoke-on-Trent Stop Smoking Service, you do not have to do it on your own.

Trained smoking advisors offer four to seven weeks of support and advice. That includes advice on patches and gums, which are available at the cost of a prescription.

For more information call the service on 0800 085 0928.

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Continuing the series of articles highlighting the jobs of dedicated workers who week-in, week-out serve the people of Stoke-on-Trent, Our City talks to MICHAEL FROST, a PCSO who goes the extra mile for the community of Sandyford and Goldenhill...

Aiming to gain

people’s trust and confidence

P

OLICE Community Support Officer Michael Frost is a bit embarrassed by all the attention… it is something he could well do without.

But, while the 46-year-old does not make a big noise about what he is achieving in his job, it certainly has not gone unnoticed by the community he serves and the officers he serves alongside in Sandyford and Goldenhill.

Michael joined the police just over three years ago. He had been made redundant after 26 years at Supreme Salt in Cobridge and spent three months on nights at Morrison’s supermarket in Leek before he joined the police.

He went through a rigorous training programme, then a probationary period and, only after he had been passed as competent, did he get to walk the streets as a PCSO.

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Have your say on proposals for new political system RESIDENTS are being urged to have their say when concrete proposals to improve Stoke-on-Trent’s political system are published this year.

Detailed plans will be unveiled by the Government’s Boundary Committee for England in early April once representations from the city council, the public and interested organisations have been considered.

A major public consultation campaign took place up to 4 December 2009 and the city council sent in representations from more than 170 people/organisations earlier this month.

There are currently 60 councillors, 3 per ward for 20 wards, who are elected by thirds. Likely outcomes to apply from 2011 are a smaller council with ‘all-out’ elections every 4 years.

There may, however, be more wards, mostly covered by a single councillor.

Executive Support Officer Paul Stratford, who is seconded from the Government Office to help the city council through the consultation process, said:“The people of Stoke-on-Trent have already been able to contribute their ideas.

“This year they will be asked to comment again on firm proposals which will shape the future of politics in the city to make sure that the electoral arrangements for the council work well for all of Stoke-on-Trent's residents.”

Look out for information about the Boundary Committee’s proposals in future issues of Our City.

Supporting the vulnerable Michael has not looked back and is not fazed by talk of “plastic police officers” who cannot make arrests. He has spent the last three years building strong relationships on his patch with young and old alike.

He talks constantly to everyone, he organises football matches for teenagers to give them something to do and he supports vulnerable adults.

Michael says his approach is simple.

“It’s just about listening, being polite, building trust and confidence and getting people to open up,” he said while dismissing any talk that he is doing anything out of the ordinary.

His boss thinks differently. Inspector Mark Hardern is full of praise. “He’s the sort of Community Support Officer who proves there is confidence in our policing. He’s a listener, a solver. He’s prepared to do extra in his own time to make the lives of people in his

A TOUCH OF FROST: PCSO Michael Frost is a familiar face on his patch in Sandyford and Goldenhill. community better. He’s a real asset to Staffordshire Police and the community he serves. He’s a great bloke to have around.”

And the feedback from the community is glowing. John Burton, aged 79, of Sandyford says they have had a bad time

with antisocial behaviour. He said: “Michael has done extremely well. He’s helped considerably. Michael will stand and listen and get action. He’s got enough sense to know his way in life.

He’s super. I think the community feels well blessed.”

Extra resource to combat alcohol misuse ALCOHOL-RELATED deaths in Stoke-on-Trent are among the worst in the country.

Out of 354 local authorities, the city ranks fifth for women and 24th for men. More than 46,000 people are at increasing risk because they drink too much.

Agencies trying to tackle the problem describe this figure as worrying.

More resources are now being targeted to help reduce the

problem. Adsis, the community alcohol service, will double in size and more training will be given to professionals like housing and police officers and benefit agency staff so that they can offer basic advice.

Five specialist nurses will be recruited to enable more than 700 medically supported detoxifications to be offered each year. Ten thousand measuring cups will be given out to help

people keep track of how much they are drinking.

Suzie Kelly, the Safer City Partnership programme lead for alcohol, said: “Many people don’t realise they could be putting themselves at risk. People should review how much alcohol they are drinking and, if they need to, ask for help to reduce their intake.”

For more information go to drinkaware.co.uk or phone Adsis on 01782 271096.

Superheroes get top marks from schools ENVIRONMENTAL “superheroes” are helping pupils at primary schools throughout Stoke-on-Trent to learn about the issues of air pollution and greener ways to travel.

The cartoon characters appear in activity packs – aimed at Year Four pupils – and also feature in an interactive display and exhibition at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, which runs until the end of April. Children can enter a competition to win a bike by pledging to find greener ways to travel. Visit stoke.gov.uk/cleanair to find out more. ● Pictured above are two of the superheroes – Fiona Freeze, left, and Travis the Time Traveller – at the launch of the campaign which has been well received by city schools.

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SPOTLIGHT ON ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES Residents urged to help city council clamp down on scourge of fly tipping RESIDENTS are being urged to help Stoke-on-Trent City Council wage war on fly tipping. Neighbourhood Enforcement Officers from Housing, Environmental and Neighbourhood Services operate throughout Stoke-on-Trent to combat the illegal dumping of waste and track down offenders.

Though fly tipping is widely regarded as a rural problem, unsightly rubbish creates eyesores on pieces of land throughout the city.

Items fly tipped include general household waste, large domestic items such as fridges, settees and mattresses, garden refuse and

commercial waste such as builder’s rubble, clinical waste and tyres.

People who see incidents of fly tipping should phone 01782 234234, visit their local centre or complete an online form at stoke.gov.uk and provide as many details as possible, such as times, dates, vehicle registration numbers and descriptions of offenders.

Enforcement Officers can often trace the fly tippers through this information and clues they unearth among items in the rubbish.

John Deakin, Local Services Manager, said:

“People who fly tip can be prosecuted and face a fine of up to £20,000 and up to two years imprisonment in a magistrates court and up to five years in jail and an unlimited fine if dealt with by a Crown Court. As well as being recharged for the costs of clearing their waste, their vehicles used for fly tipping can also be seized and crushed. Offenders are not just private individuals – there are also unscrupulous traders who charge for transporting and disposing of waste in the

proper manner, but instead dump it illegally, usually at the dead of night.

“We need the public to be our eyes and ears and report incidents of fly tipping.

We will respond quickly to find those responsible, clear the waste and prosecute them.”

Volunteer driving team offer

service with a smile

Everyone can help us cut CO2

By Councillor Joy Garner Chair of the Climate Change Task and Finish Group THE city council is throwing down the gauntlet to each and every citizen of Stoke-on-Trent to help us meet tight climate change targets in the next 15 months.

In real terms, Government targets mean we have to reduce our carbon emissions by 220,000 tonnes by March 2011.

That is around one tonne for every single person who lives in the city, so the challenge for each of us is to make that contribution.

It might be by swapping the car for public transport once a week, turning the central heating down by ten per cent, changing to energy efficient lightbulbs, buying local produce, repairing broken items rather than buying new, dumping less rubbish and reducing waste of food and water.

We’re all in this together, and if the city council does not hit targets we could be financially penalised by the Government, and that affects everyone. We want to hear how you are reducing your carbon footprint. If we all do our bit it’s an all round win win, as well saving carbon, we will all be saving money.

Please let us know by emailing ourcity@ stoke.gov.uk or writing to Freepost Our City.

You could win a mountain bike (see opposite page).

P

EOPLE who enlist the help of Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Volunteer Drivers don’t just receive a highly efficient service – chances are they will also make friends for life.

The dedicated drivers, between them making more than 150 journeys daily to support people with specialised transport requirements, deliver a personalised “service with a smile.”

The people in social care or with special educational needs who are taken to their destinations often stay in touch long after their transport needs finish, because a bond of trust has been established.

The volunteers go the extra mile to perform a range of duties including ferrying adults in social care to their luncheon club, or helping youngsters in foster care to visit their birth parents at a family support centre.

Whatever the journey, the volunteer makes sure it satisfies the need of the client – in one case recently, a youngster was taken from Staffordshire to a location on the south coast on a round trip to visit his father.

“We take requests from a wide range of people under social care in Stoke-on-Trent,” said Mark Smith, Manager of Stoke Transport Provision.

“Our 45 volunteers are all members of the public who give up their time free although they receive a reimbursement for using their own transport.

“They develop a good rapport with their clients, and they take an interest rather than just picking them up and taking them automatically from one place to another.

“There is a caring element which is definitely appreciated. For example, if a child has had a succession of foster carers the driver may be the only consistent adult in their life.”

The volunteer driver service has been established for 21 years. Mark is supported by a dedicated team of four – John Nolan, Alison Turner, Jackie Keeling and Emma Armitt – and the current volunteers include retired bank managers, miners and teachers.

All volunteers are given Criminal Records Bureau checks, and their vehicles are regularly checked to make sure they are fully legal.

Volunteer driver Linda Hope takes Betty Lloyd, 66, to Fenton day centre.

Challenge to keep fleet on the road THE fleet management section of Stoke Transport Provision looks after more than 400 vital city council vehicles while also offering MOT tests to members of the public.

In addition suitability tests on Hackney Carriages and private hire vehicles are carried out at the main site in Cromer Road.

Aside from these services to the public, the main role of the fleet group is to source and maintain 429 council vehicles ranging from small cars to refuse trucks.

The front-line operations centre at Cromer Road houses 44 refuse and recycling vehicles, all requiring regular overhaul of their compacters, blades and rear lifts, together with more than 50 Highways trucks.

A 24-strong team of fitters, fleet managers

and support staff led by Fleet Manager Paul Powell also maintains gulley sweepers, welfare ambulances, litter vehicles and road sweeper vehicles based around a variety of locations.

In addition, road-going plant such as ride-on mowers and tractors, and a further 1,000 pieces of small plant including lawnmowers and hedge strimmers, are maintained.

“Maintaining the main fleet of 400-plus vehicles at maximum capacity is a massive challenge,” said Jane Forshaw, Head of Environmental Services. “Our fitters all have specialist knowledge that is invaluable.”

The MOT test station in Northwood is also used by Trading Standards during investigations, Licensing officials, the police and VOSA when it carries out safety checks on taxis.

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Our City

CCTVs gather evidence

CCTV manager Jason Handy in the control room.

CCTV cameras across Stoke-on-Trent provided around a thousand pieces of evidence to the police last year.

Images were copied to video from the city’s network of 250 cameras, which are staffed by at least two operators 365 days a year.

They have a radio link to police so they can direct officers to deal with any incidents they spot or are monitoring.

The system also incorporates Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), which helps operators spot vehicles with links to suspected criminals or where the vehicle involved is not insured or taxed.

The system’s not used just for crime detection but also plays a role in keeping people safe and is linked to around 100 stores in the city.

Ian Tamburello, the city council’s Enforcement and Investigations Manager, said: “The connection with the police is getting stronger and stronger.

“We run a questionnaire for every piece of evidence we provide and the feedback we’re getting is that the police are really pleased.”

The system could go digital this year with the council looking for multi million pounds investment from outside partners.

Public help council hit green target

Policy puts recycling among

By Councillor John Daniels

best in the UK

PEOPLE of Stoke-on-Trent should be rightly proud of the role they have played in helping the city hit its household waste recycling target for 2010.

However much infrastructure the city council puts in to place to promote recycling, it can only work if the will of the people is with us – and, vitally, if they are willing to make simple changes in their lives.

It is fair to say the vast majority of residents have rallied to the cause and joined the effort to recycle more household waste.

We are delighted to have hit the 40 per cent target that was set to be reached by 2010 – it really is a tremendous achievement.

But where do we go from here?

The answer is much, much further. We will not be complacent and want to continue to engage many more people and get them to join in and recycle as much of their household waste as possible.

To enable this we are introducing and improving recycling facilities all the time, offering them to more and more residents. We also want to offer additional services to people who live in places where it is difficult for our recycling vehicles to access.

Reviews are taking place all the time and new initiatives being introduced wherever and whenever they can make a difference.

In this way I am confident that together we can reach the next target, which is to have 45 per cent of waste recycled by 2011, and ultimately 50 per cent by 2019/20.

But we will continue to need the dedication and devotion of residents to achieve these goals – and I am confident we will receive this support.

S

TOKE-on-Trent City Council’s policy of maximising the amounts of household waste diverted from landfill to recycling and energy recovery has put it in the first rank of the UK’s greenest local authorities.

Fynn Neighbour, 20 months, enjoys a British apple at Fenton Childrens Centre.

City leads the way on reducing carbon STOKE-on-Trent is leading the way in cutting carbon emissions. The city was the first in the country to sign up to the 10:10 pledge to cut emissions by 10 per cent in 2010.

Thousands of people and organisations have already signed up to the pledge to make the Potteries Britain’s first really green city.

They include Stoke City Football Club and Port Vale Football Club, schools, colleges, the city council, Staffordshire University and NHS Stoke on Trent.

But campaigners insist thousands more need to join in and they are being urged to take simple steps to help tackle the problem of climate change.

The 10:10 organisation says there are many easy steps people can take from switching off lights and appliances to re-cycling more and using less water.

Youngsters across the city are joining in and green issues are now on the curriculum at St Margaret Ward Catholic School and Arts College. Around 200 Year 7 pupils there staged a fashion show, modelling outfits they bought entirely from charity shops.

Teacher Teresa Pattison is passionate about 10:10. She said:“Every one of us needs to help. Every single one of us needs to take a stand. You can’t pass the buck.” ● For more information on what you can do to cut your own personal carbon footprint, go to www.1010uk.org

Refuse taken to the city’s two Household Waste and Recycling sites at Burslem and Hanford is expertly channelled into various recycling streams to avoid the use of landfill.

Meanwhile an Enhanced Recycling Service has been introduced to door-todoor household collection, in the biggest change to waste management experienced by the city in 50 years.

At the Burslem and Hanford Waste and Recycling Centres, the refuse is separated so that most goes into recycling, composting or the “Energy From Waste” process.

Hanford Waste Recycling Centre has been refurbished to improve its lay-out, giving residents access to a greater range of materials available for recycling.

Both centres are well equipped to ensure that glass goes for recycling into more bottles and jars, aluminium cans to make car parts and more cans, wood to help fuel a biomass system in Merseyside, and plastics and cardboard

for collection and bailing by a local firm for onward sale into the recycling market. On the home front, the city’s new Enhanced Recycling Service gives householders the opportunity for the first time to recycle plastic and cardboard from their doorsteps.

A blue bin has been introduced this year for bottles, cans and plastics to go with the green box for papers and magazines and the clear bag for textiles.

Thanks to the support of participating residents and initiatives led by the city council’s Waste Management Department, the proportion of household waste sent for re-use, recycling or composting rose from 24 per cent in 2007-8 to 38 per cent at the midpoint of 2009.

More than 50 per cent of the waste goes to Energy From Waste, with energy produced by the burning of refuse in the incinerator next door to the Hanford site being harnessed to produce electricity.

Paddy Knowles, Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Waste Services Manager, said: “Our over-riding priority is to divert as much waste as possible into recycling or recovery, and away from landfill.

“We are one of the highest achievers for diverting waste away from landfill, which is a major producer of the global warming gas methane, as well as extremely costly.”

Ideas can win a mountain bike READERS are being asked to tell the city council how they are doing their bit to reduce their own carbon footprint.

And everyone who makes a suggestion will be entered into a free prize draw to win a mountain bike.

Councillors looking into the issue of climate change want to hear from any families, companies, groups or individuals who are doing their bit to reduce Stoke-on-

Trent’s carbon footprint and who want to share best practice.

Scrutiny Manager John Ross said the council was looking at “how we do things” to identify areas where reducing energy use could be written into contracts or service planning.

He said: “There are many examples of good things happening in Stoke-on-Trent to reduce the city’s carbon

footprint. In time we hope to look in detail at areas like transport and waste management, before producing a carbon reduction action plan for the whole city.”

● Send examples of how you are reducing Stoke-on-Trent’s carbon footprint to Freepost Our City or email to ourcity@stoke.gov.uk

Cabinet Member for Housing, Environmental and Neighbourhood Services

9

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Gardener is back in work thanks to job advice

Health and wellbeing centre opens A FORMER Hanley bank building has re-opened... as a multi-million pound health centre. Around £1.3 million has been spent on the project to renovate and convert the former Yorkshire Bank premises in Stafford Street.

The new Hanley Health and Wellbeing Centre, which is open daily from 8am to 8pm including Bank Holidays, provides residents, shoppers and town centre workers with a whole range of services from minor injury treatment to screening for chronic diseases.

Patients do not need to register with a doctor at the centre and do not need an appointment.

It is part of a £4 million Government plan to tackle deprivation and a shortage of GPs in the city.

NHS Stoke on Trent’s Head of Clinical Effectiveness and Quality Ian Gibson said:“If, for example, you’re feeling ill whilst out shopping in Hanley or you fall and need treatment for a minor injury, the centre will be able to help you.

“It’s going to be a real asset to the area and will greatly improve access to primary care services.”

E

VERYTHING has come up roses for an out of work Stoke-on-Trent gardener... thanks to a Government campaign to create thousands of new jobs.

The Future Jobs Fund means David Simcock from Werrington is now getting his hands dirty again after a year unemployed. “I’m really pleased to be back at work,” he said. “This has been the break I’ve been hoping for.”

David landed a six-month gardening contract with NCA Enterprises in Blurton after being put forward for the job by his Jobcentre Plus personal advisor.

Jobcentre Plus and Stoke-on-Trent City Council are working together to create new community focused job opportunities.

The new jobs were created when the city council and Staffordshire County Council won £2.4 million of Government Future Jobs Fund money.

The jobs will last for a minimum of six months and pay at least the national minimum wage. ● If you are aged 18 to 24 and have been getting Jobseekers Allowance for between six and 12 months, talk to your Jobcentre Plus advisor about these new jobs.

Gardener David Simcock is now working at NCA Enterprises market garden at Blurton which includes a poultry farm – so, as our picture shows, he is also used to handling the livestock.

Cricket triumphs over the freeze More and more people are getting onto the property ladder with Orbit HomeBuy Agents.

We’re the HomeBuy Agent for Shropshire and Staffordshire, and we help people in all sorts of circumstances to buy their dream home.

In this role, we act as the first point of contact for all those seeking to buy a home through one of the range of HomeBuy products that have been specifically developed to make home ownership more affordable.

For full details visit our website at www.orbithomebuyagents.co.uk or call us on 03458 50 20 50.

Open the door to your brand new home with Orbit HomeBuy Agents Terms and conditions apply – ask for details.

Orbit HomeBuy Agents are part of Orbit First Step – a division of Orbit Group Ltd., an exempt charity and a member of the Orbit Group.

AS Stoke-on-Trent shivers in the big freeze, thoughts of summer and the sound of leather on willow at local cricket grounds seem a long way off. But the city council is already helping to prepare youngsters for the new season ahead with a series of cricket coaching sessions.

The weekly sessions, which started in January, are being held at James Brindley Science College (every Tuesday, 5-6pm until 16 March) and Trentham High School (every Friday, 5-6pm until 19 March). The courses are led by the city council cricket

development team, all of whom who hold England and Wales Cricket Board Level Two coaching badges.

Councillor Derek Capey, Cabinet Member for Sport and Leisure, said: “You don’t have to be an expert or the next Kevin Pietersen to take part – just come along and have a good time.”

To book a place on the course contact Cricket Development Officer Johnathan McCredie on 07787 005944.

Teach your child to swim, be safe and have fun in the water

Ducks Unique Baby and Toddler Puddle Puddle Ducks Ducks Unique Unique Baby Baby and and Toddler Toddler Swimming Classes are taking place at Swimming Swimming Classes Classes are are taking taking place place at at Hempstalls Primary School, ST5 9LH. Hempstalls Hempstalls Primary Primary School, School, ST5 ST5 9LH. 9LH. MONDAY AFTERNOONS from 1.30pm for ages 6 months + For more information call 0151 355 0970 or go to www.puddleducks.com Receive a 10% discount if you mention Our City magazine when booking.

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11

Regeneration

Update

Recipe for an exciting future

By Cabinet Member for Regeneration Councillor Brian Ward and Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Culture Councillor Hazel Lyth

A computer generated image of how stylish public open spaces could look in the city centre’s new shopping precinct.

£275million deal struck to

transform city centre

L

ONG-RUNNING proposals to redevelop the city centre’s East-West Centre and bus station took a leap forward with the agreement of a £275million deal to transform the area.

The city council struck the agreement with developer Realis (SOT Ltd.) to bring the dream of a 21st century public transport hub for the city centre a big step closer.

Under the agreement, Realis will take forward the development of a new department store, a wide range of new shops, cafés, restaurants, vibrant public spaces, a multi-screen cinema, hotel and improved parking in the area currently occupied by the outdated shopping precinct and existing bus station.

Moving the bus station to the site of the current John Street surface car park will enable modern facilities for passengers and visitors to be built, while paving the way for the huge new shopping development.

Design work on the new bus station will

start this year with construction work expected to begin in 2011.

Realis has committed £4.5million towards the approximately £15million cost of the new bus station, with the remainder expected to come from the city council and a bid by the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership (NSRP) to regional development agency Advantage West Midlands.

Accountable The futuristic East-West Centre Development has been designed by internationally renowned architects Benoy to provide 75,000 square metres of retail floor space, revitalise the city centre and tempt shoppers from cities like Birmingham and Manchester.

It is forecast that the development could be open in the next five years and will create thousands of new jobs as well as boosting the whole city centre and the local economy.

NSRP Chief Operating Officer Hardial Bhogal said: “The key is that by doubling

capacity all the shops will benefit from the multiple shopping trips that people make. It is a win win opportunity for everybody.

“It will help the city centre retain the retailers already based there and will attract new, niche retailers who will complement what is happening in the Potteries Shopping Centre and the East-West Centre.”

Councillor Brian Ward, city council Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Board Member of the NSRP, said: “The signing of the development agreement is a sign of confidence in Stoke-on-Trent, despite the recession.

“The retail and property world are in tough times right now, but we are preparing for the upturn by agreeing to this major scheme that will help transform our city centre into a truly regional destination.

“Under the deal we will get the new bus station built, subject to securing funding, by 2012, and at the same time will continue to prepare the way for the additional shopping centre.”

THIS four page special report shows the strides being taken to transform Stoke-on-Trent with facilities to rival the biggest and best in the country.

It shows buildings of a design quality never before seen in our city providing new jobs and new training facilities, and the fact that we will not settle for anything but the best.

It also illustrates the hard work behind the scenes to secure investment not only in bricks and mortar, but also in infrastructure and in the people who live and work here.

The benefits of these projects moving forward will fit together like pieces in a jigsaw.

Better educational facilities in the University Quarter, linked to an improved leisure and retail offer in our city centre, will mean graduates who studied here will be more likely to stay and work here.

Initiatives like the Business District will create the jobs to attract them, while areas like City Waterside will provide exciting new housing communities.

Initiatives like the Blue Planet logistics hub at Chatterley Valley put Stoke-on-Trent at the global forefront of eco-friendly development.

So, while this report gives a flavour of initiatives making real progress in Stoke-on-Trent, it also shows our recipe for building an even more exciting future for our city.

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FEBRUARY 2010

Regeneration

HOUSING AND LEISURE DEVELOPMENT LINKED BY ATTRACTIVE WALKWAY TO CITY CENTRE RETAIL CORE

Update

Hardial Bhogal and Councillor Hazel Lyth, Cabinet member for Economic Development and Culture at City Waterside.

WORK is gathering pace on the UK’s single biggest education-led regeneration programme to develop new learning and training facilities in Stoke-on-Trent.

The prestigious £285million University Quarter programme is literally changing the city’s skyline with Stoke on Trent College’s stylish new annexe already open and construction work progressing on the new Sixth Form College Campus at the junction of Glebe Street, Station Road and Leek Road.

A topping out ceremony was held in December to mark a milestone in building the £33million Sixth Form College.

The futuristic building is on schedule to open its doors to students in September this year.

Stoke on Trent College’s £11million new ‘lifestyle’ building opened in September last year, offering 21st century facilities for Caring and Services Industries, including Child Care, Beauty and Holistic Therapy, Hairdressing, Health and Social Care, Professional studies and Hospitality and Catering.

There will be significant changes to Staffordshire University’s campus including building a Knowledge Hub with a

new library, and new facilities in Science and Technology, Media and Sport.

Along with the college and university buildings, there are plans to develop a university boulevard linking the city’s main railway station with the city centre.

Hardial Bhogal, Chief Operating Officer of the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership (NSRP) said: “The University Quarter creates a hustle and bustle in the area between the station and the city centre, with a vibrant social scene and a different customer base.

“A ten minute walk or brand new bus connection to the city centre will take people through some of the city’s most striking architecture and thriving bar and restaurant scene.

“These buildings are important gateway sites and are a statement to the rest of the world that Stoke-on-Trent means business.

“This investment in outstanding facilities is an investment in the students who live here and come to live here, and will help in future to retain the graduates we need to work in growing employment sites like the new Central Business District.”

Sixth Form College Principal Helen Pegg performs the topping out ceremony at the space age new campus.

Waterside Primary School pupils celebrate the development of the area around the canal at the edge of the city centre.

Waterside attractions to

Emma Bridgewater sponge decorator Amy Davenport demonstrates the pottery’s trademark polka dot pattern.

rival Britain’s biggest S Deputy City Council Leader Brian Ward – the Cabinet Member responsible for Regeneration – on the striking new bridge linking City Waterside with the city centre.

TOKE-on-Trent’s City Waterside is set to be transformed into a canal quarter to rival attractions of Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.

Attractive 21st century housing built alongside the canal and reminders of Stoke-on-Trent’s rich industrial heritage will be complemented by public squares, attractive walkways linking to the main city centre and a

Residents choose 400m artwork RESIDENTS are being asked to choose between three designs for one of the world’s biggest works of art being planned for Stoke-on-Trent.

Hoardings stretching 400 metres along Bucknall New Road from Ivy House Road to Wellington Street will feature attractive art works in the second phase of an innovative project.

Phase one of the Living Gallery took on board residents’ ideas to produce paintings and photographs in the boarded up doors and windows of houses awaiting clearance.

The art works created vibrant displays on the empty buildings.

Now the old terraced houses have been demolished, the hoardings will go up to shield the empty site from the view of the main road during redevelopment.

The barrier will also boost security for residents living in the next street.

Three designs by artist and community advocate Cora Glasser will be unveiled in early 2010 so as many people as possible can help make the decision.

Cora urged local residents to help inspire her by uploading their photographs and images of the area through the project website at www.living-gallery.org.uk She said: “The three designs will build on the ethos of phase one but will be very different, from traditional images of the area to designs which are a bit more adventurous.

“The project is very exciting and we are looking forward to unveiling the designs very soon.”

RENEW Programme Manager Nick Newman said: “The original concept

was to engage the whole community, from schools, to residents’ associations.

“Local people may have been reluctant to join in at first but eventually they joined in and the art developed more and more.

“Bucknall New Road is one of the main roads into the city centre and is used by thousands of motorists every day. Rather than seeing a scene of dereliction we wanted to produce something that was a bit more attractive.” ● A master plan is being drawn up after consultation with local residents to transform the area through building on the site of the former terraced homes. New homes and small scale commercial units, as well as areas of open space, will breathe new life into the area around Bucknall New Road.

thriving restaurant and café culture.

The successful Emma Bridgewater pottery company is moving to a new purpose built factory on the site between Lichfield Street, Botteslow Street and Leek Road (see panel).

The historic factory site and its surrounding area are to be redeveloped to provide 217 new homes. A boulevard style walkway will link City Waterside with the main shopping area and bus station, and it is hoped once the development is complete that shoppers will take a short stroll down the hill to enjoy the restaurants, cafés, bars and public squares.

paved in a colourful Minton style and will be lined with an attractive mix of housing, from large family homes and townhouses to apartments.

For more information on developments at City Waterside please visit citywaterside.stoke.gov.uk or renewnorthstaffs.gov.uk

Factory keeps ceramics at heart of city

Housing, leisure and industry will join together seamlessly at the prestigious City Waterside location.

EMMA Bridgewater’s new hi-tech factory will use the latest technology to conserve and recycle heat, power and water.

Wetland areas around the site are proposed to encourage wildlife and will include natural reed beds to recycle water from the factory.

The latest ceramic manufacturing technology

Millions spent to improve Burslem

Latest wave

Community facilities North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership (NSRP) Chief Operating Officer Hardial Bhogal said: “There will be an attractive range of eateries and leisure facilities along the canal side which will add a whole new dimension to a visit to the city centre.

“Shoppers in Birmingham think nothing of walking for ten minutes to relax and enjoy a bite to eat or a drink in the canalside restaurants. Why not here in Stoke-on-Trent?

“It will just be a five minute stroll from the busy shops to the attractive public spaces, with stylish new homes and open spaces.

“It is important for the whole city centre and City Waterside that we establish a diverse seven days a week economy. People living in hundreds of homes on City Waterside will also have a safe natural link to enable them to enjoy the night-time economy in the city centre.”

Work on the next phase of the £50million scheme to develop the boulevard, new homes and canalside development is set to start this year (2010) subject to obtaining all the required consents. The boulevard will be

13

HISTORIC buildings in Burslem are being given a facelift with help from a multi-million pound rolling programme of grant support.

The Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) – funded by regional development agency Advantage West Midlands and the Heritage Lottery Fund – has already given or agreed grants of more than £1.2 million which is expected to rise to £3.5 million over the next two years.

The money is on average matched pound for pound by property owners bringing about a significant investment in the Mother Town’s future.

Helen Rhodes, THI Project Officer for the Burslem Regeneration Company which is administering the scheme, said the improvement works were making a noticeable difference to the look of the town centre.

She said:“The grants have helped to encourage businesses to stay in the town and have resulted in vacant buildings being brought back into use which, in turn, has created jobs.

Burslem has many fine buildings which are being given a new lease of life.”

Stoke on Trent College’s new lifestyle building.

University Quarter sends signal out to the world

Our City

will harness hi-tech equipment to produce the company’s traditional wares in one of the world’s most environmentally-friendly pottery factories.

Work on the new plant is expected to start this year. The existing factory buildings will be converted to include housing.

Funding of £200,000 has played a key role in the expansion of Denry’s restaurant to take in an adjacent building on the corner of Market Place and St John’s Square and incorporating a new wine bar.

The latest wave of THI-supported work has included the renovation of the listed building which housed the KFC restaurant in Market Place with a grant of £159,000 and a refurbishment of the exterior of the former Liberal Club building with a £133,000 grant. THI is also contributing £75,000 towards a £300,000 project at the Swan Bank Methodist Mission which involves the refurbishment of a first floor hall to provide sports, drama, youth and general community facilities.

The original vaulted ceiling will be restored to its former glory and there will be seating for up to 300 people – which can be stored when not needed – a portable stage, new flooring and a new kitchen. On the ground floor, a former drop-in centre will be converted to a stylish café.

Meanwhile, the Burslem Regeneration Company is bidding for £3 million of funding from the European Regional Development Fund which would be used to help finance larger improvement schemes in the town.

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FEBRUARY 2010

Regeneration

HOUSING AND LEISURE DEVELOPMENT LINKED BY ATTRACTIVE WALKWAY TO CITY CENTRE RETAIL CORE

Update

Hardial Bhogal and Councillor Hazel Lyth, Cabinet member for Economic Development and Culture at City Waterside.

WORK is gathering pace on the UK’s single biggest education-led regeneration programme to develop new learning and training facilities in Stoke-on-Trent.

The prestigious £285million University Quarter programme is literally changing the city’s skyline with Stoke on Trent College’s stylish new annexe already open and construction work progressing on the new Sixth Form College Campus at the junction of Glebe Street, Station Road and Leek Road.

A topping out ceremony was held in December to mark a milestone in building the £33million Sixth Form College.

The futuristic building is on schedule to open its doors to students in September this year.

Stoke on Trent College’s £11million new ‘lifestyle’ building opened in September last year, offering 21st century facilities for Caring and Services Industries, including Child Care, Beauty and Holistic Therapy, Hairdressing, Health and Social Care, Professional studies and Hospitality and Catering.

There will be significant changes to Staffordshire University’s campus including building a Knowledge Hub with a

new library, and new facilities in Science and Technology, Media and Sport.

Along with the college and university buildings, there are plans to develop a university boulevard linking the city’s main railway station with the city centre.

Hardial Bhogal, Chief Operating Officer of the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership (NSRP) said: “The University Quarter creates a hustle and bustle in the area between the station and the city centre, with a vibrant social scene and a different customer base.

“A ten minute walk or brand new bus connection to the city centre will take people through some of the city’s most striking architecture and thriving bar and restaurant scene.

“These buildings are important gateway sites and are a statement to the rest of the world that Stoke-on-Trent means business.

“This investment in outstanding facilities is an investment in the students who live here and come to live here, and will help in future to retain the graduates we need to work in growing employment sites like the new Central Business District.”

Sixth Form College Principal Helen Pegg performs the topping out ceremony at the space age new campus.

Waterside Primary School pupils celebrate the development of the area around the canal at the edge of the city centre.

Waterside attractions to

Emma Bridgewater sponge decorator Amy Davenport demonstrates the pottery’s trademark polka dot pattern.

rival Britain’s biggest S Deputy City Council Leader Brian Ward – the Cabinet Member responsible for Regeneration – on the striking new bridge linking City Waterside with the city centre.

TOKE-on-Trent’s City Waterside is set to be transformed into a canal quarter to rival attractions of Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.

Attractive 21st century housing built alongside the canal and reminders of Stoke-on-Trent’s rich industrial heritage will be complemented by public squares, attractive walkways linking to the main city centre and a

Residents choose 400m artwork RESIDENTS are being asked to choose between three designs for one of the world’s biggest works of art being planned for Stoke-on-Trent.

Hoardings stretching 400 metres along Bucknall New Road from Ivy House Road to Wellington Street will feature attractive art works in the second phase of an innovative project.

Phase one of the Living Gallery took on board residents’ ideas to produce paintings and photographs in the boarded up doors and windows of houses awaiting clearance.

The art works created vibrant displays on the empty buildings.

Now the old terraced houses have been demolished, the hoardings will go up to shield the empty site from the view of the main road during redevelopment.

The barrier will also boost security for residents living in the next street.

Three designs by artist and community advocate Cora Glasser will be unveiled in early 2010 so as many people as possible can help make the decision.

Cora urged local residents to help inspire her by uploading their photographs and images of the area through the project website at www.living-gallery.org.uk She said: “The three designs will build on the ethos of phase one but will be very different, from traditional images of the area to designs which are a bit more adventurous.

“The project is very exciting and we are looking forward to unveiling the designs very soon.”

RENEW Programme Manager Nick Newman said: “The original concept

was to engage the whole community, from schools, to residents’ associations.

“Local people may have been reluctant to join in at first but eventually they joined in and the art developed more and more.

“Bucknall New Road is one of the main roads into the city centre and is used by thousands of motorists every day. Rather than seeing a scene of dereliction we wanted to produce something that was a bit more attractive.” ● A master plan is being drawn up after consultation with local residents to transform the area through building on the site of the former terraced homes. New homes and small scale commercial units, as well as areas of open space, will breathe new life into the area around Bucknall New Road.

thriving restaurant and café culture.

The successful Emma Bridgewater pottery company is moving to a new purpose built factory on the site between Lichfield Street, Botteslow Street and Leek Road (see panel).

The historic factory site and its surrounding area are to be redeveloped to provide 217 new homes. A boulevard style walkway will link City Waterside with the main shopping area and bus station, and it is hoped once the development is complete that shoppers will take a short stroll down the hill to enjoy the restaurants, cafés, bars and public squares.

paved in a colourful Minton style and will be lined with an attractive mix of housing, from large family homes and townhouses to apartments.

For more information on developments at City Waterside please visit citywaterside.stoke.gov.uk or renewnorthstaffs.gov.uk

Factory keeps ceramics at heart of city

Housing, leisure and industry will join together seamlessly at the prestigious City Waterside location.

EMMA Bridgewater’s new hi-tech factory will use the latest technology to conserve and recycle heat, power and water.

Wetland areas around the site are proposed to encourage wildlife and will include natural reed beds to recycle water from the factory.

The latest ceramic manufacturing technology

Millions spent to improve Burslem

Latest wave

Community facilities North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership (NSRP) Chief Operating Officer Hardial Bhogal said: “There will be an attractive range of eateries and leisure facilities along the canal side which will add a whole new dimension to a visit to the city centre.

“Shoppers in Birmingham think nothing of walking for ten minutes to relax and enjoy a bite to eat or a drink in the canalside restaurants. Why not here in Stoke-on-Trent?

“It will just be a five minute stroll from the busy shops to the attractive public spaces, with stylish new homes and open spaces.

“It is important for the whole city centre and City Waterside that we establish a diverse seven days a week economy. People living in hundreds of homes on City Waterside will also have a safe natural link to enable them to enjoy the night-time economy in the city centre.”

Work on the next phase of the £50million scheme to develop the boulevard, new homes and canalside development is set to start this year (2010) subject to obtaining all the required consents. The boulevard will be

13

HISTORIC buildings in Burslem are being given a facelift with help from a multi-million pound rolling programme of grant support.

The Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) – funded by regional development agency Advantage West Midlands and the Heritage Lottery Fund – has already given or agreed grants of more than £1.2 million which is expected to rise to £3.5 million over the next two years.

The money is on average matched pound for pound by property owners bringing about a significant investment in the Mother Town’s future.

Helen Rhodes, THI Project Officer for the Burslem Regeneration Company which is administering the scheme, said the improvement works were making a noticeable difference to the look of the town centre.

She said:“The grants have helped to encourage businesses to stay in the town and have resulted in vacant buildings being brought back into use which, in turn, has created jobs.

Burslem has many fine buildings which are being given a new lease of life.”

Stoke on Trent College’s new lifestyle building.

University Quarter sends signal out to the world

Our City

will harness hi-tech equipment to produce the company’s traditional wares in one of the world’s most environmentally-friendly pottery factories.

Work on the new plant is expected to start this year. The existing factory buildings will be converted to include housing.

Funding of £200,000 has played a key role in the expansion of Denry’s restaurant to take in an adjacent building on the corner of Market Place and St John’s Square and incorporating a new wine bar.

The latest wave of THI-supported work has included the renovation of the listed building which housed the KFC restaurant in Market Place with a grant of £159,000 and a refurbishment of the exterior of the former Liberal Club building with a £133,000 grant. THI is also contributing £75,000 towards a £300,000 project at the Swan Bank Methodist Mission which involves the refurbishment of a first floor hall to provide sports, drama, youth and general community facilities.

The original vaulted ceiling will be restored to its former glory and there will be seating for up to 300 people – which can be stored when not needed – a portable stage, new flooring and a new kitchen. On the ground floor, a former drop-in centre will be converted to a stylish café.

Meanwhile, the Burslem Regeneration Company is bidding for £3 million of funding from the European Regional Development Fund which would be used to help finance larger improvement schemes in the town.

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Our City F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

Regeneration City flies flag for world’s leading ceramics companies

Update £6m serviced office centre opens doors A NEW £6 million office centre is up and running in North Staffordshire.

The Genesis Centre at Chatterley Valley is a state-ofthe-art serviced office complex covering 33,000 square feet.

It forms part of Northern Trust’s £10 million investment at the North Staffordshire Business Park in Stoke-on-Trent.

It has been designed to encourage new start up businesses and to support small and medium sized enterprises.

Brian Ward, Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration said:“The Genesis Centre is a welcome addition to Chatterley Valley and our portfolio of high quality, serviced business accommodation. It will help to create new jobs.”

District is the ‘business’ BUILDING work is due to start in 2011 on the new £195 million Central Business District in the city centre.

The seven-year scheme will create 1.2 million square feet of office, retail and hotel space and bring more than 4,400 jobs to the city.The development, on the former Unity House site, will boost the North Staffordshire economy by approximately £61 million a year.

Complementary services are also planned in the district including bars, restaurants, showrooms and gyms. It will also include high quality public open spaces with opportunities for outdoor art and events.

Genr8 Developments is the company behind the scheme after being selected by the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership and its partners Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Advantage West Midlands as preferred bidder.

STOKE-ON-TRENT is to fly the flag for the area’s world famous ceramics industry – thanks to a spectacular show that will greet visitors to the city centre.

Banners attached to around 100 new lamp standards installed along the Potteries Way ring road in the city centre will proudly reflect the industrial heritage of the world’s ceramic capital.

The colourful columns of metallic-finished

weatherproof promotional banners will be seen for the first time shortly.

About half of the giant banners along the busy route will feature North Staffordshire’s ceramic manufacturers, while the others will “flag up” links to the industry with images of pottery ware and scenes evocative of Stoke-on-Trent’s ceramic tradition.

Andy Tharp, of the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership, said:“The Potteries

Way is the ideal location for the banners to welcome people to the city centre.

“They will reflect the ceramic heritage of the area, but also make people aware that we still have a successful ceramics industry in which more than 300 companies employ around 3,000 people. The banners are interchangeable so we will be able to use the new Potteries Way lamp standards for banner displays to mark special events in the city.”

Bid to attract a tenant to eco-friendly showcase D

EVELOPERS of one of the world’s greenest and eco-friendly business and logistics parks – built in Stoke-on-Trent – are confident they will let it out this year.

Gazeley UK Ltd built the £50 million Blue Planet project at Chatterley Valley speculatively after being named as preferred bidder by regional development agency Advantage West Midlands.

The complex on 31 acres of former colliery land is the first of its kind in the country... a carbon positive warehouse with all heat and energy coming from renewable sources like a bio fuel power station and solar wall panels.

Eco friendly features which place it ahead of its time because of its green specification include: ● Thermally efficient buildings with air tightness and thermal

The space-age Blue Planet development at Chatterley Valley... a blueprint for eco-friendly warehousing solutions all over the world.

insulation 25 per cent better than current building regulations. ● Efficient systems for further building energy reduction, utilising cutting-edge lighting, maximum use of natural light, underfloor heating and a solar panel wall. ● The latest solar cell technology implanted into special rooflights which eliminate night time light pollution. ● Kinetic plates which capture energy every time a vehicle enters the site.

Responding to enquiries Nigel Dolan, development manager at Gazeley, said: “We have had a lot of interest from the distribution sector but have, as yet, no firm occupier. We’re always talking to people and it’s still fully available.

“We’ve been responding to enquiries and pro-actively seeking a user. 2009 was a very, very difficult year but things are now improving and we’re confident

2010 will be much more positive for us.”

Hardial Bhogal, Chief Operating Officer of North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership (NSRP) said: “We mustn’t compromise quality and standards in our robust approach to regeneration because there should be beauty and an aura of excellence surrounding new developments in the area – the people of the city deserve that.

“If we build in features to combat climate change and eco-friendly systems we are investing in future generations and their quality of life.

“Stoke-on-Trent is leading the way with a building described as the most eco-friendly logistics project in the world which will be used as a blueprint all over the globe.

“What’s more it has been developed on a former industrial site, reclaimed out of dereliction, with a building of beauty replacing a blight and scar on the landscape,” he added.

Councillors give green light to city centre boost COUNCILLORS have given the green light to £9.3 million plans to transform the city centre’s streets.

The work, which forms part of the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership’s (NSRP) £1.5 billion vision for the region, will see the majority of the city centre streets inside the Potteries Ring Road transformed.

The short listed companies have been chosen and the winner will be announced soon.

The scheme, covering around 80,000 sq m of space, is part of the NSRP’s programme of improvements for the city centre.

The final designs will focus on developing existing streets and public spaces within the city ring road, creating extra seating, improved paving and roads as well as enhancing lighting and greenery.

Councillor Brian Ward, Stoke-on-Trent City Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said:“The city centre is critical to the economy of North Staffordshire and these improvements are an important way of building confidence in the city.

“Over the next few years the city centre will be completely transformed with improvements ranging from a major new shopping and leisure centre to the new Central Business District. We want people to come to the city and be impressed by what they see.

“The new designs for public spaces will link all of the work together so it is vital that we get it right.”

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Pioneering dementia centre wins top awards A GROUNDBREAKING Stoke-on-Trent facility that provides pioneering support for people with dementia has won two prestigious regional awards.

The accolades for Abbots House Centre of Excellence in Abbey Hulton came only months after the state-of-the-art centre, a former residential care home transformed after a £1.3 million revamp by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, opened its doors in its new role.

Abbots House and the city’s Stay at Home Service – which provides short term specialist support for people with dementia in their own homes – were finalists in no less than five categories in the Great West Midlands Care Awards which are part of the Great British Care Awards that celebrate excellence in the care sector across all regions of the UK.

15

Freephone family information service extends its hours THE Family Information Service (FIS), which gives free, impartial advice on a wide range of issues to families in Stoke-on-Trent, has extended its opening hours.

The freephone line, 0800 0151120, will now be open from 8:45am until 6pm Monday to Thursday, while on Fridays the service will be available from 8:45am until 4:30pm.

The FIS has access to more than 800 sources and aims to make life simpler for parents and carers by putting them in touch with organisations ranging from help with maternity rights to childcare.

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services, Councillor Ian Mitchell, said:“We have decided to extend the

opening hours to help working parents, who may not be able to contact the service before 5pm. It’s a way of giving greater access to the service.

“To start with it will be run as a pilot from 30 November 2009 until the end of March this year and if it’s popular we’ll make it permanent.”

Cutting drugs

supply chain P

OLICE have pledged to continue the clampdown on illegal drugs in Stoke-on-Trent after 2009 ended with more operations to take dealers off the streets.

The Operation Nemesis series of raids, arrests and convictions has hit the city drugs trade hard.

In late December dawn raids saw alleged dealers charged with intent to supply crack cocaine and other drugs, as well as seizures of cash, cocaine and cannabis.

Twelve suspected dealers were rounded up in one set of co-ordinated early morning arrests across the city. There was also a three year jail term for a local man who picked up Merseyside dealers at Stoke railway station and “chauffeured” them around the city to ply their trade.

Superintendent Dave Mellor sent out a warning to the city’s dealers that 2010 held more of the same hard-hitting operations. He said: “Operation Nemesis is daily business for us in Stoke-on-Trent.

We are keeping up the pressure on the dealers and have done since the launch of the Operation in 2007.”

Independence At the regional finals held at The National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull Abbots House impressed the panel of judges and came top in two key categories – the Dignity in Care Team Award and the Care Team Award.

The Dignity in Care Award is presented to the organisation which demonstrates that they provide users with maximum independence and choice, while respecting and maintaining their privacy and dignity at all times.

The Care Team Award goes to the team able to best demonstrate a shared vision and agreed goals, with a leader whose role is known and respected and who takes personal responsibility for their tasks. Other qualities required include an excellent communication process.

Crimestoppers

National finals As a result of winning these two categories Abbots House, which provides integrated services by social care staff and health service professionals, now goes forward to the national finals which will be held at the Guildhall in London in June this year. In addition to this double accolade the work being done at Abbots House was a highly commended finalist in the Best Healthcare category of the city council’s WOW! Awards.

Abbots House, which has already been rated “excellent” by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission, has 29 beds – 14 for permanent residents, 10 for an assessment and therapy unit with a rehabilitative focus and five for a short break or carer relief facility.

Our City

Police smash down a door during a drugs raid in Fenton.

He added that information from the public had been vitally important in the arrest of the 12 suspected drug dealers in the city after raids on 14 addresses including properties in Normacot, Blurton, Sneyd Green and Longton.

He said: “These warrants are the result of some detailed investigative work by a number of departments determined to tackle the supply of drugs, but importantly many of the search warrants have resulted from calls by members of the public to Crimestoppers.”

Alongside the raids and arrests, police also offer advice linked to partners like NHS Stoke on Trent and the city council which offers drug users and their families the opportunity to change their lives by seeking treatment and support for their addiction.

Anyone with any information on drug dealing in Stoke-on-Trent should call Staffordshire Police on 0300 123 4455 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

First ceramics festival is hailed a success THE first British Ceramics Biennial staged in Stoke-on-Trent has been hailed a success. The 10week event showcased the work of local designers, artists from overseas and famous pottery companies at a variety of events.

More than 10,000 people attended exhibitions, workshops and master classes.

BCB Co-Director Barney Hare Duke said: “It’s been a great

success. It’s surpassed our expectations as organisers and those of the stakeholders.”

The event was partially funded by the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership and the city council and attracted a grant of £100,000 from the Arts Council.

Evaluations are now being carried out and Mr Hare Duke says early feedback shows the event has had a stunning impact.

He said: “This was never an initiative to turn round the ceramic industry but to turn the spotlight onto Stoke-on-Trent and the still vibrant and functioning ceramic industry we have here.

This was not a lament for past glory days but very much about the future.”

Some of the education and business start up programmes are still running.

The organisers are now planning BCB 2011 as they vow to keep the momentum going.

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Our City F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

how the city A two page Our City special on and partners are council, Staffordshire Police fer communities working together to build sa

By Stoke-on-Trent’s Neighbourhood Justice Co-ordinator GRAEME DRAYTON

Reporting that justice is being done STOKE-on-Trent Safer City Partnership is stepping up its efforts to reassure the public that offenders are being brought to justice and punished for their crimes.

A year since the launch of the Community Payback initiative, offenders in the city are completing projects suggested by the public to smarten up the environment.

More and more members of the public are coming forward with schemes they would like to see carried out.

In this issue of Our City, we launch a special Justice Seen, Justice Done column which shows how complaints received from the public are being followed up by police who are working with the community, making arrests and securing convictions.

Publishing this information will not only reassure the public that we are committed to protecting law-abiding citizens, but should also act as a deterrent to offenders, and a warning that they will be targeted.

Everyone will see the consequences of offending.

Residents can see that we are bringing criminals to justice.

We are doing more to support the public, witnesses and victims of crime.

Together the people of our city and its public services are turning the balance.

Look out for more information in future issues of Our City.

POLICE Inspector Elliot SharradWilliams is pictured beneath a billboard announcing a week long “public meeting” with the people of Meir. For two hours each day he was available to talk to residents and listen to any concerns over crime and antisocial behaviour. He spoke to around 227 people, many of whom reported feeling safe and happy where they lived. Now he plans to repeat the process in Longton Town Centre.

Billboard points way to ‘public’ meetings

Crime fighting ‘army’ boosts

links with police A

GROWING army of Community Crime Fighters is out there... not caped crusaders fighting the forces of darkness but people quietly improving the quality of their neighbourhoods.

Christine Pratt is one of them. She’s the Chair of Blurton Farm Residents’ Association and just one of the many dedicated volunteers taking part in the Government’s £5 million Community Crime Fighters initiative.

The idea is to improve links

between the police and communities through meetings, projects, leaflet drops and so on.

Christine, aged 53, who has lived in Blurton all her life, said:“We’re more liaison between police and the community. We listen to worries and concerns people have about our community. In most cases we direct them to someone who can help and sometimes this is a local police officer or police community support officer.”

She added: “We’re certainly not informers. That would destroy the trust residents have in our group.

“We let the police do their job and we do ours.”

Christine took up the role after being nominated by Councillor Roy Naylor but insists she is just one of a whole group of people doing valuable work.

“I do feel our volunteers do loads of work and don’t get enough recognition,” she said.

To find out more contact Blurton Farm Residents Association on 01782 501832 or for more information on Community Crime Fighter, contact the City’s Neighbourhood Justice Co-ordinator Graeme Drayton on 01782 233552.

Community Crimefighter Christine Pratt

Police pledge to make witnesses feel safer WITNESSES and victims of antisocial behaviour attending Stoke-on-Trent Magistrates’ Court feel safer thanks to a new police initiative.

A survey last year revealed growing worries and complaints about witness intimidation, drinking and antisocial problems.

At the time, officers attending court to give evidence would spend some time in the witnes

waiting room. Police decided to give their uniformed officers extra duties while they are there.

So they now also mount high visibility patrols in an around the court building. People questioned as part of the latest survey say they have now noticed more officers.

Chief Inspector Peter Hall, Crime Manager for

Stoke-on-Trent, said: “Some people attending court might be intimidated by a group of people standing outside even if they were not doing anything.

“The mere presence of a group can be intimidating to some. Our measures have provided added reassurance. I’m pleased with how it’s going.”

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FEBRUARY 2010

Our City

17

50,000 hours’ payback is

completed in year A

ROUND 50,000 hours of services to neighbourhoods in Stoke-on-Trent have been completed in the last year under the Community Payback initiative.

An average of 255 offenders a month are sentenced to work on projects to benefit the local community, from decorating community halls to tidying up public open spaces, gardening in church yards and carrying out litter picks.

There is also a workshop open seven days a week, where offenders can learn new skills such as recycling timber to make items such as bird boxes, bird feeding tables and garden benches, which are then given to local charity shops and sold to raise revenue.

Questionnaires completed by the offenders when they have completed their sentence show most of them see the experience as “positive” and welcome the fact that they have been able to benefit the community.

Many residents who see the teams working in their luminous orange hi-vis jackets have appreciated seeing justice being done at the heart of their communities.

John Cartlidge, of Staffordshire Probation Service, said: “As well as paying the price for their offending, we are finding that many of the people completing Community Payback are getting something out of it by learning new skills and most of them see it as a positive thing to be doing.

“Where we are working directly for communities we get a lot of very positive feedback from residents who are pleased with what is being done for their benefit.”

Offenders sentenced by the courts to carry out work under the Community Payback initiative tidy up land near the Potteries Way in Hanley.

in prison after committing six burglaries in under a month. Sedgwick, 18, stole property worth more than £5,000 from properties in the Tunstall area. His haul included a mobile phone, computer equipment and a £600 digital camera. The father-of-one has 27 previous convictions, including 10 for burglary, and was sentenced to three and a half years behind bars.

EASTERN: Burglar Trevor Walters has been sentenced to almost two years in prison after stealing a games console and dvd player from a home in Bentilee. He had smashed a window in the house in Beverley Drive, but police linked blood stains found at the house to the 33-year-old, of no fixed abode.

He later stole a Volkswagen Passat from Blurton and took £373 worth of fuel from petrol station forecourts without paying. Walters, who has 153 previous offences, was also driving while disqualified and was in breach of a community order given to him for another burglary. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison.

WESTERN: Violent offender Craig Naggington has been sent to prison for seven years after he attacked a man with a machete. The 27-year-old put his victim Azar Iqbal in hospital for four days after slashing his right arm in the attack which took place in Upper Huntbach Street, Hanley. Nagginton, known as Naggy, was found guilty of unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

Criminals’ cash seized to fund improvements

Chair of the Blurton family group Emma Smith with fundraiser co-ordinator Clare Bradshaw outside the new centre at 45 Wimborne Avenue, Blurton.

Our City reports back on convictions secured in all the city’s neighbourhoods to make Stoke-on-Trent safer for us all...

NORTHERN: Burglar Leon Sedgwick is

ILL-GOTTEN gains confiscated from criminals are being spent on worthwhile projects to benefit communities in Stoke-on-Trent.

Around £95,000 seized under laws to make sure criminals do not keep the proceeds of crime, has been made available for projects throughout Staffordshire.

In Stoke-on-Trent the three projects to benefit from the Community Cashback initiative are: ● The Friday Drop Inn and Elderly Assistance Initiative in Blurton, which is turning a building into a community facility to deliver OAP coffee mornings, youth club, and mother and toddler sessions. ● The Mitchell High School poly tunnel which will be used to grow fresh produce to sell in a community market sometimes held at the school. ● A project to restore a communal garden in Milton to provide a community garden on a run down site on the junction of Maunders

Road and Hardman Street.

Stoke-on-Trent’s Neighbourhood Justice Co-ordinator Graeme Drayton said: “Community Cashback is another way of redressing the balance and showing the public that the police, councils and probation service are working for them, and that offenders will be punished.

“It is an important part of our Justice Seen, Justice Done initiative to show the public that the proceeds of crime are being seized and reinvested on worthy schemes in our communities.”

Peter Hammersley, Chair of Staffordshire Criminal Justice Board, said: “It gives us great pleasure to hand over the ill-gotten gains of criminals to pay for community projects that matter most in people’s neighbourhoods.

“Community Cashback offers an excellent opportunity for us to respond directly to communities’ needs.”

SOUTH EASTERN: Teenage burglar Freddie Carruthers is serving a year in a young offenders’ instiutution after playing a starring role on CCTV cameras at Hanley’s Victoria Hall. He had broken into the venue and stolen alcohol, but was caught sitting outside drinking it by police. He was also charged with breaking into a house in Meir and stealing a laptop, 600 cigarettes and a 32-inch TV. Blood left at the scene led police to the repeat offender.

SOUTH WESTERN: Three members of the notorious ST4 group have been given Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) for terrorising their community. Adam Mountford, aged 19, and two boys aged 13 and 14 who cannot be named for legal reasons, were handed the orders for fighting, swearing at residents, jumping on vehicles, throwing stones, water bombs and fruit and damaging empty buildings. Mountford is banned from most of Fenton, cannot associate with some members of the ST4 group and cannot visit a number of shops and takeaways in Victoria Road. The other boys are banned from using threatening behaviour in Fenton, and are banned from several areas which suffered the worst of their behaviour.

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Our City F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVERYONE WHO LIVES IN STOKE-ON-TRENT TO Be a part of your own ‘Question Time’ ANYONE who lives or works in the city can ask a question of the Council Leader or a Cabinet Member as part of “Your Question Time” at regular city council meetings.

The question can be about any of the services you receive as a taxpayer and will be considered at the meeting. To find out more about submitting a question contact Lisa Powell on 01782 232751 or visit stoke.gov.uk/yourquestions

Submit a petition to call for council action PETITIONS are a written request for the city council to consider a particular matter or to take a course of action. Details are reported to full city council meetings and if a petition contains 100 signatures or more, it can be presented to the council meeting in person. To find out more contact Nathan Dawkins on 01782 233540 or visit stoke.gov.uk/petitions

Volunteers sought for parents’ service THE Stoke-on-Trent Parent Partnership Service offers impartial information and support to parents/carers of children with Special Educational Needs.

The service is always looking to recruit and train volunteers to become Independent Parental Supporters (IPSs). For more details on becoming a volunteer contact Emma Ellis on 01782 234854, or visit parentpartnership-stoke.co.uk

Seeking to influence decision making THE Community Empowerment Network is dedicated to helping residents have their voices heard and for them to influence decision making at every level in the city. To find out how to join the Community Empowerment network contact Vicki Birks on 01782 233060 or email vicki.birks@stoke.gov.uk

THERE are dozens of ways that people can make a difference in their community. Whether it’s engaging with local Government or helping NHS managers shape health services for the future, getting the public involved is not only welcome but is essential. Similarly, there are forums, associations and focus groups being established all the time to represent everyone from ethnic minorities, to elderly residents and young people. Here, Our City looks at the many options available for getting involved...

Residents ‘get stuck in’to

transform community I

NSPIRATIONAL community champion John Reynolds and his friends are launching a £2million bid to re-vamp their community hall in Stoke-on-Trent.

Mr. Reynolds, 46, of Sneyd Green, has heart and asthma problems, which stop him from working, but his health issues have not prevented him from helping transform community services where he lives.

He joined the Holden Lane Residents’ Association in 2005 and is now the organisation’s chair. “I got involved because the kids had nothing to do – no park, no play facilities,” he said.

He started organising coach trips for youngsters in his area and last year the association raised £500,000 to build the Reppington Road Park, which includes a skate park and a floodlit five-a-side soccer pitch.

“People tried to get the park back for years but did not get far with it,” he said, “We came along and got stuck in. It’s a brilliant thing for the kids.”

Residents have now taken over the running of the Sneyd Green Community Hall and their next big plan is to upgrade it and turn it into an environmentally friendly facility.

In his capacity as Association Chair, Mr Reynolds runs a variety of community activities there.

He is now urging people across the city to get involved in associations to help improve the areas where they live. “It’s time to get stuck in and get stuff done instead of sitting in chairs complaining,” he said.

To find out how to join a residents’ association contact Steve Griffiths at Stoke-on-Trent City Council or visit stoke.gov.uk/residentsassociations

It’s time to get stuck in and get stuff done instead of sitting in chairs complaining.

JOHN REYNOLDS

Sneyd Green Residents’ Association Chairman John Reynolds, right, with committee members, left to right, Vickie Eardley, Paula Turner and Bert Grocott outside the renovated community hall.

Mystery shoppers help boost services

LGBT network raises pertinent issues A LESBIAN, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender network provides a united and recognised voice for the community enabling people to raise issues which affect them. More details are available on how to join the network by contacting 01782 266998 or email info@gaystoke.org.uk

Promoting wellbeing of people in later life THE Older People’s Forum promotes the wellbeing of older people helping to make later life an enjoyable experience.

For more details on how to get involved contact Janice Beards on 01782 200736 or email janice.beards@acns.org.uk

‘‘’’

A mystery shopper tests out services at one of the city council’s local centres.

MYSTERY shoppers are being used again this year to further test Stoke-on-Trent City Council services.

Volunteers are being sent in to scrutinise local centres, one-stop shops and the housing advice centre. Also coming under the spotlight will be Stoke-on-Call which is the council’s telephone one stop shop for advice where people phone 01782 234234 and should get answers to their questions.

The rolling programme was started two and half years ago by the Residents Involvement Team to identify any weaknesses so improvements could be made.

Council officers put together a set of standards for

volunteers as each operation is carried out and they vary depending on the services being checked at the time.

Things being checked range from cleanliness to whether staff were friendly and polite – and even whether the right leaflets were displayed.

Managers then go through the results of each exercise and come up with an action plan if they think improvements are needed.

Steve Griffiths, the city council’s Residents Involvement Manager, said: “Mystery shopping enables our customers to be part of driving improvements to the services we offer.”

Anyone interested in becoming a mystery shopper is asked to contact Steve Griffiths on 01782 231914 or email steve.griffiths@ stoke.gov.uk

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FEBRUARY 2010

Our City

19

TO INFLUENCE DECISIONS ABOUT THE CITY Information on how to become a councillor AN ANNUAL event is held aimed at helping people understand the process of becoming a ward councillor. It gives information about how people can get nominated, how the electoral process works and details about the support councillors receive when they are elected.

Details on how to become a councillor are available by contacting Michaleen Hilton on 01782 232638 or by visiting stoke.gov.uk/councillors

Lobby elected members at monthly surgeries

Chairman of the Black and Minority Ethnic Forum Asif Mehmood, third left, makes a point to members of the forum’s steering group. Pictured second right is the city council’s Head of Sustainable Community Development Alan Turley who is working with the forum. Steering group members are, left to right, Lydia Mugoyikai, Atiqur Rahman, Godfroid Seminega and Majid Khan.

Forum provides a stronger voice for ethnic minorities AN ORGANISATION set up three years ago to give ethnic minority groups in Stoke-on-Trent a stronger voice is going from strength to strength.

Twelve elected volunteers serve on the Black and Minority Ethnic Forum and come from the Afro Caribbean, Palestinian, Bangladeshi, Cameroon and Eastern European communities among others.

The Forum was set up to help communities develop and make sure they are part of the city’s decision-making

processes. The forum’s vision is to be an elected, effective and accountable body for black and minority ethnic communities that live, work and study in the city. It encourages communities and individuals to become champions and advocates of their communities.

Asif Mehmood, who teaches at Edensor Technology College and is the chairman of the organisation, said: “We have lead representatives on several bodies and they are part of decision making and consultation. Our main objective is to help

our communities develop themselves and move forward. Twelve volunteers is enough to represent our communities and the organisation is working well. We are trying to make the city a better place for ethnic minority groups to live in. The future is a multi-cultural Britain.”

Members meet once a month. Any organisation can become a member.

For more details contact Nageena Younis on 01782 238519 or email nageena.younis@stoke.gov.uk

Public have their say on shaping healthcare

NHS Stoke on Trent toured the city recruiting members for the Now Have Your Say panel.

A GROUP has been set up which gives members of the public the chance to shape local healthcare matters. Now Have your Say was established by NHS Stoke on Trent to provide a vital link between the primary care trust (PCT) and the 270,000 plus people it serves in the city.

In the first year, more than 1,000 people have joined up and now provide vital feedback on health services that affect the whole community. They also attend regular themed meetings and focus groups and contribute to online surveys, polls and take part in blog messaging services.

NHS Stoke on Trent Chief Executive Graham Urwin said:“We value everyone’s thoughts on how we can continue to improve the

health services we provide. Now Have your Say gives a real cross section of people the opportunity to engage with us on matters that mean the most to them.

“Members can be as actively involved as they want to be – for instance they can attend regular public forums and discuss the issues face to face with NHS Stoke on Trent senior staff, or they can simply take part in online polls and/or discussions. All the feedback we receive really counts.”

The membership is free to join and includes a host of benefits. To find out more contact Engagement Manager Colin Anderson on 01782 401045 or email colin.anderson@ stoke.nhs.uk or visit www.nowhaveyoursay.co.uk

MANY councillors hold monthly surgeries in their ward to enable members of the public to visit them in person with any complaints or enquiries they may have.

Appointments can also be made upon request if members of the public are unable to attend the regular surgery. To find out about councillors surgeries contact the Support Team on 01782 231922 or visit stoke.gov.uk/councillors

Patients panel airs views on health issues PEOPLE who want to air their views about health matters can join the Community Health Voice patient panel.

The group supported by NHS Stoke on Trent gives members the opportunity to get involved in the planning and development of local health services.

To find out more contact group chairman Mike Dixon on 01782 399714 or email mikeadixon@hotmail.co.uk

Influencing services for mental health needs MENTAL Health Active Carers forum is a group for carers of adults with mental health needs.

The forum shares their experiences and views to influence the future development of overall plans and services. To find out more about joining the Forum contact Jayne Aston on 01782 233213 or email jayne.aston@northstaffs.nhs.uk

Attend an open meeting at the city council MEMBERS of the public can attend any open council meetings. The date, time and venues of the meetings and the agendas are available on the city council web site by visiting stoke.gov.uk/council or people can call Beverley Humphreys on 01782 231922.

Take up your complaint with your ward councillor ANYONE who has a local government query or complaint can contact their local ward councillor. The contact details for the 60 councillors are fully accessible to members of the public.

As well has being available on the city council website they are listed in every issue of Our City. Visit stoke.gov.uk/councillors

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Our City F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

Public services will continue to address city’s major challenges PUBLIC services have pledged to continue addressing “major challenges” faced by the city after a new assessment highlighted some of its biggest needs.

The Oneplace process – a new way of testing the quality of services provided by partners like the city council, health service and police – highlighted smoking and teenage pregnancy as two of the major issues that need additional attention, but added that the city was making good progress against “deep-rooted problems.”

The Oneplace report praises public services in a number of areas, including: A considerable reduction in overall crime levels for two consecutive years, and efforts that have cut property-related crime by eight per cent and violent crime by around 35 per cent; investment in youth services and a reduction in youth offending; better examination results for 16-year-olds, and fewer children absent from school; exceeding targets to help vulnerable adults live independently.

Inspectors said: “Partners have a good understanding of the area’s needs and are committed to improving the local economy and raising aspirations and income levels for local people.”

Councillor Ross Irving, Council Leader and Chair of the Local Strategic Partnership which co-ordinates the work of public service providers, said: “This comprehensive assessment is a reality check on the condition of our city, and as such, I welcome the examination.

“We know Stoke-on-Trent has a number of major challenges, but public service providers are working together to tackle these issues.”

Children eligible for free meals CHILDREN may be eligible for free school meals if their parents receive Income Support, Income based Job Seekers Allowance, Income-based Employment Support Allowance.

They may also qualify if their parents receive the guarantee element of Pension Credit, Child Tax Credit (but not if you also get Working Tax Credit) and have an annual income under £16,040; or if they are an asylum seeker supported by the National Asylum Support Service.

To find out more information phone the Free School Meals Team on 01782 236813 or contact your child’s school.

Celebrating the progress towards academy status for James Brindley High School are Headmaster Clive Rigby with pupils, left to right, sisters Megan and Sian Docksey, Matthew Toft and Caritia Stanforth.

Science and health academy plans take big step forward M

ULTI-MILLION pound plans to turn a Stoke-on-Trent school into an academy have taken a big step forward.

NHS Stoke on Trent and Keele University plan to sponsor James Brindley Science College in Chell and work on the details is now moving forward quickly with outline planning permission granted for the new academy and special school last November.

The idea is to turn the school into a science and health technology facility. Headteacher Clive Rigby said: “We will see the

opportunity for our students to grow in the future. They will benefit from realistic learning.

It’s real people working with students in real scenarios.”

NHS Stoke on Trent is the lead sponsor and its Chairman Chris Dawes says he is very excited and admits the tie-up brings with it big responsibilities.

He said: “This is an excellent opportunity for NHS Stoke on Trent to contribute to the development of the means of improving life chances for all children, young people and their families.

“It’s a way that we can use our experience and influence to

participate in young people’s development in Stoke-on-Trent.

“Naturally, it will have a strong focus on healthy living so plans will be in place to look at exercise, eating healthily and sports science.”

Kevin Mattison, Pro Vice Chancellor of co-sponsors Keele University, said: “We see the new academy as being much more than a school. We want to reach out into the community to improve the health and educational well being for people living in the north of the city.”

Councillor Ian Mitchell, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s

Services, said: “The wealth of expertise and experience in health and education from NHS Stoke on Trent and Keele University will be key to the success of the new academy.

These sponsors will help give students excellent opportunities both employment and higher education.”

Pilot classes for the new academy are planned for September this year with the new academy fully operational in September 2011.

The scheme is part of the £250 million city council Building Schools for the Future programme.

Pupils grow their own healthy crops LIFE is blooming marvellous for pupils at Burnwood Community School who now have their own healthy allotment garden, complete with home made composting.

Pupils at the school – which is a flagship under the national Food for Life initiative – will be growing their own crops and enjoying tasty treats from the garden.

Councillor Derek Capey presented Burnwood Primary with the new School Allotment Gardening Cup, which is set to become an annual award. He said:“I hope this will get the children involved in gardening and growing vegetables that they can eat.

At least they will know where their food comes from.” ● Pictured on the allotment among the sunflowers is pupil Chloe Welsh, aged 11, a member of the school’s Green Peas Club.

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Councillors seek people’s ideas on

accessing local services

C

ITY councillors want to know what the people of Stoke-on-Trent think about neighbourhood services and the way they access local services.

A team of councillors – known as a task and finish group – was asked to investigate after proposals to close some of the city’s local centres were called in for further scrutiny.

There are currently 14 local centres, covering the whole city, which offer a wide range of services and are regularly used by many people who prefer face-to-face contact when paying rent, bills or making enquiries.

But with the growth of hi-tech online services, telephone payments and even access to council services through digital television, the council wants to know how local people prefer to access services.

The councillors want as many residents as possible to answer the following questions: ■ Do you know where your local centre is?

■ If so, do you use it, and what for?

■ Could we provide the same services differently or in different locations? If so, what and where?

■ What can we do to improve our services to you?

Chair of the group, Councillor David Conway, said: “The group want to know who uses the local centres and how they can be more effective, such as by linking up with partners like NHS Stoke on Trent.

Eastern Area Neighbourhood Manager Linda Boys, second left, and Area Implementation Team Officer Neil Collingwood with Marilyn and Neil Hawkins of the Newford Residents’ Association at the shops in Community Drive, Smallthorne, which were given a £100,000 refurbishment.

“We want to know what works well and what doesn’t, how we can imporve services and deliver value for money. As well as asking for the public’s feedback we have started talking to residents’ groups and other local organisations.”

This is your opportunity to have your say about how services locally are delivered.

Nominate Your Fire Service Professional!

We are looking for nominations from people who have had a really positive experience with an individual or a team from our Service. This is your opportunity to recognise the many outstanding contributions that help to make Staffordshire a safer place.

Your Name: ___________________________________________________ Your Address: _________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Phone Number: _______________________________________________ Name of your nominee(s): ______________________________________ Reason for your nomination: ____________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Signature: ____________________________________________________ Please continue on a separate sheet if necessary.

Return your nomination to: Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, FREEPOST RRHA-KXUA-GTST, Pirehill, Stone, Staffs, ST15 OBS. Alternatively nominate online at www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk or contact Nicky Westwood on 01785 898979

For a Free Home Fire Risk Check call FREEPHONE

0800 0241 999

Calls from a mobile will be charged at your standard rate

Send your views to scrutiny@stoke.gov.uk or write to Neighbourhood Management Task and Finish Group, Overview and Scrutiny, PO Box 631, Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 1RG.

Our City

21

£14m health centre plans approved STOKE-ON-TRENT is to have a new £14 million health centre after city councillors gave planning approval for the scheme on land off Elder Road in Cobridge.

The facility will bring three GP practices together and serve a population of 100,000 people. It will also mean a range of health services arte available on one site including X rays, a chest clinic and a district nursing team.

Local resident Bernard Wragg, who has been campaigning for the new centre, said: “We, the residents, have worked so hard in conjunction with NHS Stoke on Trent over the last few years and it is fantastic news to see the plans moving onto the next stage.

“It is a flagship development for Cobridge and will bring major regeneration to the area.”

Graham Urwin, Chief Executive of NHS Stoke on Trent, said public consultation over the past two years had helped shape the scheme.

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Our City F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

MEIR PARK, MEIR NORTH & WESTONCOYNEY PC 5094 Adam Rushton PCSO 8892 Andrew Spooner PCSO 16937 Stephen Lomas

CONTACT NUMBERS IT’S easy to get in touch with a local beat bobby or Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) via their digital airwave radios. All officers have individual collar numbers which are either four or five digits long. For officers with four digit numbers dial 0300 123 2345 then enter ‘0’ followed by the four digit collar number of the officer you need to speak to. No ‘0’ is needed for officers with five digit collar numbers. If the officer is on duty, their radio rings like a mobile phone and you will be connected. If they are off duty or dealing with victims, witnesses or offenders, your call goes through to the officer’s individual voicemail box.

Remember, in an emergency, dial 999.

Bucknall Neighbourhood NPU commander – Inspector 3283

Steve Jones Bucknall Police Post, Ruxley Road, Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent, ST2 9BG.

Tel. 0300 123 4455 email: bucknall.npu@staffordshire. pnn.police.uk All officers are based at Bucknall.

SGT 3615 Paul Clarke SGT 3415 Dave Lowe SGT 4438 John Buchan ABBEY HULTON PC 4727 PCSO 16295 PCSO1693 BENTILEE PC 4632 PC 5183 PCSO 16226 PCSO 6612

Sarah Griffiths Charlotte Barker Fraser Glen

NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION TEAM PC 0735 Jo Powell PC 4727 Dylan Morrey PC 0998 Peter Underwood PC 5078 Scott Turner

Longton Neighbourhood NPU commander – Inspector 5110

Elliot Sharrard-Williams Dave Tams Steve Cowan Emma Casey Andy Mander Natalie Lugg Rachel Knight Andrew Meakin

BERRYHILL & EATON PARK PC 4953 Angela Broadhurst PCSO 8983 Rob Guthrie BUCKNALL AND TOWNSEND PC 975 Nathan Ames PCSO 17023 Nia Nokes JOINER’S SQUARE PC 0970 Paul Sajdak PCSO 16232 Andy Alcock PCSO 8893 Lucy Stevenson MILTON, BADDELEY GREEN WEST AND NORTON HEIGHTS PC 0865 Clare Bowker PC 4020 Neil Whitmore PCSO 16293 Jessica Edge SMALLTHORNE PC 3911 PCSO 16934 PCSO 16231

SNEYD GREEN PC 4837 PCSO 8980 PCSO 17020

Keiron Edridge Tracy Robinson Carl Radford

Longton Police Station, Sutherland Road, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, ST3 1HH.

Tel. 0300 123 4455 email: longton.npu@staffordshire. pnn.police.uk All officers are based at Longton Police Station.

Sgt 3890 Ian Jones Sgt 4336 Craig Burton Sgt 4089 Andy Duffin DRESDEN, FLORENCE, LIGHTWOOD & NORMACOT PC 5274 James Ibbs PC 5169 Toni Sunderland PC 3862 Tony Godwin PCSO 6433 George Bould PCSO 6603 Gemma Price LIGHTWOOD, MEIR PARK & MEIR SOUTH PC 4090 Russ Elliot PC 4603 Neil Day PCSO 6500 Mark Simon PCSO 16635 Emma Richards PCSO 16240 Leanne Sharratt

01782 794600

BENTILEE

01782 231300

SMALLTHORNE

0300 123 0982

BLURTON

0300 123 0971

STOKE

0300 123 0973

BURSLEM

0300 123 0979

TRENT VALE

01782 425260

WHITFIELD VALLEY

01782 425720

TUNSTALL

0300 123 0972

FENTON

01782 743100

HANFORD

0300 123 0974

HANLEY

0300 123 0980

NORTON

01782 534599

Stoke Police Station, Boothen Road, Stoke–on–Trent, ST4 4AH.

Tel. 0300 123 4455 email: stoke.npu@staffordshire.pnn. police.uk All officers are based at Stoke Police Station.

Sgt 0583 Jo Blandford Sgt 4991 Steve Meigh Sgt 3851 Dave Fenton BASFORD, CLIFF VALE, HARTSHILL WEST & HOSPITAL PC 4685 Steve Wilson PCSO 16852 Yvonne Klebukowski BLURTON, NEWSTEAD & HOLLYBUSH PC 4822 Sean Woodward PC 5107 Simon Stone PC 873 Kate Rushton PCSO 16234 Stephen Sherratt PCSO 6607 Philip McGlynn PCSO 16855 Charlotte Abbotts BOOTHEN & TOWN CENTRE PC 4433 Andy Birchenall PC 4990 James McMillan PCSO 8825 Karen Billings FEN PARK PC 0905 PCSO 8827

Robert Mountford Scott Holland

FENTON, HERON CROSS & MOUNT PLEASANT PC 4129 Scott Bradbury PC 4475 Ivor Owens PC 4959 Kerrie Mayer PCSO 6443 Rachel Mountford PCSO 16229 Wendy Rodgers PSCO 16938 Scott Woodward

For more information and advice on health issues please call NHS Direct – 24 hrs a day – on

0845 46 47

or visit www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk or www.nhs.uk

Tony Drinkwater Marcus Ferns Deb Losh

BRADELEY, BURSLEM PARK & SMALLTHORNE PC 3822 Rob Thomas PC 5086 Craig Carpenter PCSO 16235 Sarah Wood PCSO 16233 Hannah Mayer BRINDLEY FORD, OXFORD, PACKMOOR & TURNHURST PC 0944 Jaime Isaacs PCSO 17022 Tracy Hodgson CHELL HEATH PC 4904 PCSO 6616

NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION TEAM PC 4576 Steve Stuttard PC 935 Graham Phillips PC 821 Claire Brooker PC 5106 Gareth Cheetham PC 5056 Andy Percey PC 5137 Adrian Firth

STANFIELDS & MILL HILL PC 5055 Dan Marsh PCSO 8841 Andrew Pryce

CITY CENTRE NPU commander

Adam Edwards Amanda Whitfield Richard Farrar Andrew Wootton

Inspector 3509 Shaun Kerrigan Hanley Police Station, Bethesda St, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 3DR.

Tel. 0300 123 4455 city.npu@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk Sgt 4151 Brevic Jones Sgt 4777 Jon Ward Sgt 4425 Phil White

NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION TEAM PC 4233 Dave O’Donnell PC 3755 Paul Harris PC 3930 Steve Farmer

Burslem and City Centre Neighbourhoods

Burslem Police Station, Jackson Street, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 1AF.

Inspector 4465 Martin Brereton

Tel. 0300 123 4455 Roy Barber Charlotte Bryan

Tunstall Neighbourhood NPU commander – Inspector 3573 Tunstall Police Station, Scotia Road, Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 6BG. email: tunstall.npu@staffordshire. pnn.police.uk All officers are based at Tunstall Police Station.

email: burslem.npu@staffordshire. pnn.police.uk Sgt 4602 Paul Clarke Sgt 3840 John Hazeldine Sgt 4019 Pete Slinn BIRCHES HEAD PC 0848 PCSO 8979 PCSO 8984

Ruth Barlow Michelle Chadwick Rebecca Simon

BURSLEM AND SNEYD GREEN WEST PC 0896 Tracy Adams PC 4210 Les Bertolone PCSO 8957 Justine Marsh PCSO 17016 Matt Boyles

Ian Martin Adrian Hemmings Sue Wall

STAFFORDSHIRE UNIVERSITY PC 4483 Keith Emery

GOLDENHILL & SANDYFORD PC 4733 Glyn Talbot PCSO 8953 Michael Frost

HARTSHILL EAST & PENKHULL PC 5133 Scott Gidman PCSO 16939 Katy Thorneycroft

LONGPORT AND MIDDLEPORT PC 4938 Jamie Burton PC 0772 Sam Edwards PCSO 6628 Tich Nyamayaro PCSO 8832 Adam van de Sande

SHELTON SOUTH PC 4139 Dave Marshall PC 5588 Lynne Callaghan PCSO 16299 Katie Brickley

FEGG HAYES & GREAT CHELL PC 4969 Sam Bray PCSO 6513 Sara Bowen PCSO 16941 Jon Steventon

TUNSTALL PC 4835 PC 5158 PCSO 8954 PCSO 8986

ETRURIA AND SHELTON NORTH PC 5246 Dave Beardmore PC 4389 Guy Wain PCSO 8995 Lucy Slater PCSO 16230 Vicki Smith

NORTHWOOD PC 3829 PCSO 16225 PCSO 9045

John Swinnerton Sally Wright

BURSLEM NPU commander

TRENT VALE PC 5050 PCSO 16634

CENTRAL FOREST PARK PC 0805 Kate Beardmore PC 0806 Amanda White PCSO 8987 Liz Old PCSO 8831 Katie Sullivan

BALL GREEN & NORTON PC 4383 Andy Baddeley PC 877 Claire Crank PCSO 16940 Blaine Williams PCSO 16853 Simon Jones

HANFORD & TRENTHAM PC 4034 Malcolm Ford PC 540 Nerine Forrest PCSO 6609 Penny Carr

Tel. 0300 123 4455

PACKMOOR

01782 425676

Christopher Harrington

MEIR HAY & SAXONFIELDS PC 0733 Donna Talbot PCSO 6603 Gemma Price PCSO 16854 Sarah Cartlidge PCSO 16856 Keith Mellor

0300 123 0976

0300 123 0993

NPU commander – Inspector 3734

Mark Hardern

ABBEY HULTON

MEIR

Stoke Neighbourhood

LONGTON NORTH & LONGTON TOWN PC 3287 Frank Flannigan

HEALTH CENTRES r u o Y

LONGTON

NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION TEAM PC 4021 Andy Edwards PC 0971 Paul Nixon PC 4838 Gareth Whitfield PC 4106 Paul Massey

SGT 4401 SGT 4594 Sgt 852

CITY CENTRE PC 4528 PC 0817 PC 0726 PC 0400 PC 4644 PC 4511 PC 4634 PC 5410 PC 0564 PC 4149 PC 5445 PC 837 PCSO 16293 PCSO 8516 PCSO 8955 PCSO 8457 PCSO 16936

Darren Belford Kerry Grant Claire Harrison Diane Hoyle Rob Kelsall Richard Longmore Lee Robinson Steve Smith Lisa Trevor Jason Howell Greg Hill Sharon Ribbans Mel Bartholemew Andrea Bolam Chris Hill Simon Holmes Matt Harrison

ETURIA ROAD CORRIDOR & FESTIVAL PARK PC 4871 Lucas Hackney PC 0605 Nicola Humphries PC 4452 Roger Poole PC 4133 Craig Russell PC 5208 Andy Sherratt PCSO 16227 Daniel Nettleton PCSO 8830 Chris Stone PCSO 16935 Daniel Boote Special constables All NPUs are supported by a team of special constables.

Fire & Rescue contact numbers S-O-T AREA COMMAND AREA COMMANDER

ASSISTANT AREA COMMANDER – BURSLEM

Wayne Bowcock 01785 898894

Ruth Watchorn-Rice 01785 898554

ASSISTANT AREA COMMANDER – LONGTON

Glynn Luznyj 01785 898693 ASSISTANT AREA COMMANDER – HANLEY

Andy Leedham 01785 898765

HEAD OF STOKE ON TRENT RISK REDUCTION

Kelvin Knapper 01785 898882 ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Paula Goodwin 01785 898895

COMMUNITY SAFETY ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS Chris Thompson 01785 898883

RISK REDUCTION OFFICERS Donna Broadhead 01785 898904 Jim Taaffe 01785 898976

Dave Gallimore 01785 898885

Maj Ullah 01785 898948

Paul Shaw 01785 898755

Rehana Iqbal 01785 898891 Neil Cheshire 01785 898498

Tracey Cresswell Longton 01785 898951 Ed Case Burslem 01785 898887 Mick Warillow Hanley 01785 898902 Pete Hall Safer City Partnership Officer

07967 573263

To book your home fire risk check ring: 0800 0241 999

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r u o Y

FEBRUARY 2010

Abbey Green

COUNCILLORS

ELLIE WALKER (BNP) (01782) 397870 07917 854352 ellie.walker@stoke.gov.uk

Berryhill and Hanley East

Blurton

RITA DALE (City Independents) (01782) 267451 rita.dale@stoke.gov.uk

ADRIAN KNAPPER (Lab) 07714 334453/ 07825 732724 adrian.knapper@stoke. gov.uk

JOHN DAVIS (City Independents) (01782) 264126 07786 440876 john.davis@stoke.gov.uk

Burslem South

JAVID IQBAL NAJMI (Lab) 07846 879920 javid.najmi@stoke.gov.uk

DEBRA GRATTON (Lab) 07748 251695 debra.gratton@ stoke.gov.uk

MOHAMMED PERVEZ (Lab) 07919 917632 07825 732690 mohammed.pervez@ stoke.gov.uk

ALBY WALKER (BNP) (01782) 397870 07917 854342 albert.walker@stoke.gov.uk

DEREK CAPEY (City Independents) (01782) 319949 07752 851323 derek.capey@stoke.gov.uk

PAUL SHOTTON (Lab) 07805 638609 paul.shotton@ stoke.gov.uk

TOM REYNOLDS (Lab) (01782) 342295 07850 828717 tom.reynolds@stoke.gov.uk

ZULFIQAR ALI (Lib Dem) 07838 262062 zulfiqar.ali@stoke.gov.uk

BRIAN WARD (City Independents) (01782) 312670 07879 115704 brian.ward@stoke.gov.uk

The third seat in the Blurton ward is currently vacant and will be filled after the elections in May

BAGH ALI (Lab) (01782) 343246 07973 848428 bagh.ali@stoke.gov.uk

PETER KENT-BAGULEY (Potteries Alliance) 07773 464626 peter.kent-baguley@ stoke.gov.uk

ALAN JOYNSON (Non-aligned Group) (01782) 413683 alan.joynson@ stoke.gov.uk

JOAN BELL (Lab) (01782) 318998, 07757 708703 or 07825 732 701 joan.bell@stoke.gov.uk

Norton and Bradeley

DAVE SUTTON (Lib Dem) (01782) 542998 07512 564815 dave.sutton@stoke.gov.uk

ALAN RIGBY (City Independents) (01782) 542364 07790 374152 alan.rigby@stoke.gov.uk

JEAN BOWERS (Lib Dem) (01782) 262613 07712 350430 jean.bowers@stoke.gov.uk

KIERAN CLARKE (Lib Dem) (01782) 788010 07886 358143 kieran.clarke@stoke.gov.uk

Trentham and Hanford

ROGER IBBS (Conservative & Independent Alliance) 07824 867748 roger.ibbs@stoke.gov.uk

JANINE BRIDGES (City Independents) (01782) 851842 07989 385631 janine.bridges@ stoke.gov.uk

MEGAN RYAN (Conservative & Independent Alliance) (01782) 866761 07903 458768 megan.ryan@stoke.gov.uk

Information on city councillors was correct at the time of going to press.

DAVID MARFLEET (BNP) (01782) 876661 07745 157918 david.marfleet@ stoke.gov.uk

MICK SALIH (Non-aligned Group) (01782) 533542 07977 843026 mick.salih@stoke.gov.uk

JEAN EDWARDS (Lab) (01782) 816171 jean.edwards@ stoke.gov.uk

DAVID CONWAY (City Independents) (01782) 790922 david.conway@ stoke.gov.uk

JOY GARNER (Lab) (01782) 768846 07986 442770 joy.garner@stoke.gov.uk

HAZEL LYTH (Conservative & Independent Alliance) 07825 732680 hazel.lyth@stoke.gov.uk

GEOFF KNIGHT (Potteries Alliance) (01782) 765770 geoff.knight@ stoke.gov.uk

JOANNE POWELLBECKETT (Cons & Independent Alliance) 07816 518275 joanne.powell-beckett@ stoke.gov.uk

Hartshill and Penkhull

MOHAMMAD IQBAL (Lab) (01782) 266893 07792 071266 mohammed.iqbal@ stoke.gov.uk

IAN MITCHELL (City Independents) (01782) 314353 07885 104596 ian.mitchell@stoke.gov.uk

RANDOLPH CONTEH (City Independents) (01782) 256869 randolph.conteh@ stoke.gov.uk

BARBARA BEESTON (City Independents) (01782) 612072 07729 896622 barbara.beeston@ stoke.gov.uk

Meir Park and Sandon

MICHAEL BARNES (Non-aligned) (01782) 870065 07850 939611 michael.barnes@ stoke.gov.uk

CLIVE BRIAN (Conservative & Independent Alliance) (01782) 315702 clive.brian@stoke.gov.uk

JOHN BURGESS (BNP) (01782) 394397 07889 137308 john.burgess@stoke.gov.uk

MARGARET PYATT (City Independents) (01782) 319372 margaret.pyatt@ stoke.gov.uk

Stoke and Trent Vale

SHEILA MATTHEWS (Stoke-on-Trent Independent Group) (01782) 258374 sheila.matthews@ stoke.gov.uk

Tunstall

ROSS IRVING (Conservative & Independent Alliance) (01782) 335982 07900 135565 ross.irving@stoke.gov.uk

PHILLIP SANDLAND (BNP) (01782) 342372 phillip.sandland@ stoke.gov.uk

East Valley

Longton South

DENVER TOLLEY (Lab) (01782) 316815 07799 032939 denver.tolley@stoke.gov.uk

STEVEN BATKIN (BNP) (01782) 859054 steven.batkin@ stoke.gov.uk

Burslem North

Northwood and Birches Head

TERENCE FOLLOWS (City Independents) (01782) 318127 07944 055379 terence.follows@ stoke.gov.uk

MELANIE BADDELEY (BNP) (01782) 763615 07979 508837 melanie.baddeley@ stoke.gov.uk

Hanley West and Shelton

Longton North

MARK DAVIS (Lab) 07813 473625 mark.davis@stoke.gov.uk

ANN JAMES (City Independents) (01782) 836766 ann.james@stoke.gov.uk

23

Bentilee and Townsend

Chell and Packmoor

Fenton

MICK BELL (City Independents) (01782) 847760 mick.bell@stoke.gov.uk

ROY NAYLOR (City Independents) (01782) 313975 07833 183922 roy.naylor@ stoke.gov.uk

Our City

GAVIN WEBB (Lib Dem-Libertarian) 07949 026660 gavin.webb@ stoke.gov.uk

PAUL BILLINGTON (Lib Dem) (01782) 413225 07743 566138 paul.billington@stoke.gov.uk

PAULINE JOYNSON (Non-aligned Group) (01782) 413683 07813 836057 pauline.joynson@ stoke.gov.uk

Weston and Meir North

MOHAMMED MATLOOB (Lab) (01782) 577658 07811 147372 mohammed.matloob@ stoke.gov.uk

LEE WANGER (Stoke-on-Trent Independent Group) 07971 303729 lee.wanger@stoke.gov.uk

MICHAEL COLEMAN (BNP) (01782) 311697 07926 532922 michael.coleman@ stoke.gov.uk

JOHN DANIELS (Conservative & Independent Alliance) (01782) 396780 07885 894804 john.daniels@stoke.gov.uk

ANTHONY SIMMONDS (BNP) (01782) 334919 07855 885606 anthony.simmonds@ stoke.gov.uk

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Our City F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

Lord Coe to be guest of honour at sports awards event OLYMPIC double gold medal winner and 2012 games Chairman Lord Coe, pictured right, will be guest of honour at this year’s Stoke-on-Trent Sports Personality of the Year Awards on Thursday 1 April.

The glittering gala evening, jointly organised by the city council and The Sentinel, honours a host of amateur sporting heroes.

Residents have nominated their sporting

T

HE city council has teamed up with the North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry to urge companies to think green when travelling to and from work.

The chamber has worked closely with the authority to introduce a green travel plan, to encourage staff and visitors to use sustainable modes of transport, such as cycling, public transport walking and car sharing.

The city council also gave the chamber a grant to install secure cycle parking racks and worked with them to incorporate other environmentally friendly initiatives as well as plan cycle routes and arrange other transport activities.

Thanks to the success of the project, the chamber is now encouraging its hundreds of members to sign up to the travel plan scheme and take advantage of the advice and benefits the council’s expert team can offer.

Ann Steele, who chairs the chamber’s Green Action Group, said: “We sent out a sustainable travel questionnaire to all staff to gauge where they travel from each day, how they travel, how long it takes and their thoughts on alternative modes of transport. From that we were able to work with the city council to identify who could be eligible for car sharing schemes, and who could use bus or cycle routes.

“We are now setting up a scheme whereby staff can purchase a bicycle and have the money deducted from their annual salary. Not only does this spread the cost but is also tax efficient.”

As part of the plan all senior managers – including Chief Executive Bryan Carnes – have signed up to the Staffordshire car share scheme.

Gillian Cale, Workplace Travel Plan Officer for Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “We are delighted to have the North Staffordshire Chamber on board with the travel plan. They are setting a great example for other

heroes in the following categories: Inspirational achiever; Tom Brennan Service to Sport award; Coach of the Year; Sport in the Community; Junior Individual; Junior Team; Senior Individual; Senior Team; Disability Award; and Overall Winners.

A special Editor’s Award is presented to a winner chosen from sportsmen and women throughout The Sentinel’s circulation area,

while a specialist panel chooses the Potteries Footballer of the Year. ● Fifteen-times Darts World Champion Phil Taylor and footballing legend Sir Stanley Matthews were last month given a civic reception in their honour at the Civic Centre where they officially became the first two inductees into the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sporting Hall of Fame.

Businesses urged to

think green travel

Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Travel Plan Officer Gillian Cale, right, pictured at the unveiling of the NSCCI’s new cycling parking facility with chamber staff, left to right, Policy Manager Jane Gratton, Office Manager Irene Rudnicki, Chief Executive Bryan Carnes and Ann Steele, Chair of the chamber’s Green Action Group.

businesses and hopefully many organisations will see what they are doing and follow their lead.”

Any business wanting to find out more about the city council’s travel plan grant scheme should contact Gillian Cale by telephoning 01782 234964 or email gillian.cale @stoke.gov.uk – details of the share a lift scheme can be found at www.share-a-lift.com

A group for all cyclists of all abilities A POPULAR cycling group, which puts the fun into getting on your bike, is looking for new members.

Cycle 2000 was set up to give people of all ages who enjoy leisure cycling a chance to socialise while taking in some of the best routes through the city and beyond.

The group meet up for leisurely rides (10 miles), medium rides (approximately 30 miles) and longer rides (40 plus miles) on a monthly

Our City is published by a partnership of

Stoke-on-Trent City Council, NHS Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire Police, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue and Job Centre Plus

Contact us by mail at FREEPOST Our City or by email at ourcity@stoke.gov.uk or telephone 01782 236703

basis. They also meet up socially too, once a month, to swap stories and cycling anecdotes.

They also provide a voice for local cyclists who want better conditions for everyday cycling.

CycleStoke Project Officer Phil Chatterley said:“This is a great group for anyone who likes cycling whatever their ability.”

For more details contact organiser Mike Barr on 01782 616243.