Cabinet Member

Federation themed guided tours of four of the city’s historic towns will take place this month as part of the national Heritage Open Days programme. The tours, entitled ‘The Past Shaping the Future’, will take place around Burslem, Longton, Stoke and Hanley (City Centre). Each tour will tell visitors about key buildings and places that define the history of the towns as well as future plans for their regeneration.

Performers across Stoke-on-Trent are being encouraged to audition for a unique role allowing them to become part of the upcoming London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games cultural celebrations. Young dancers and performers will be recruited by London 2012 Cultural Olympiad project Imagineer to take part in a production called ‘Godiva Awakes’ which will include a 10 metre high Lady Godiva who will awake from her sleeping chamber during a performance in Coventry during July 2012.

Pupils across Stoke-on-Trent are celebrating after schools reported record-breaking GCSE results. The provisional figures show the number of children this year achieving 5 or more grade A* to C’s across the city, including English and Maths, is now 47.9 per cent, an increase of 8.5 per cent over last year. A total of 76 per cent of students passed 5 or more exams, without English and Maths, an increase of 8.1 per cent on 2009.

A public consultation to show proposals to improve the accident record on a stretch of road will go on display tomorrow (Wednesday). Residents will get the chance to air their views and ask questions on the planned safety changes to Sandon Road, Meir, between Chatsworth Place and the A50 Uttoxeter Road, during the consultation at Meir Library. Plans on show include narrowing traffic lanes by using road markings and adding three pedestrian crossings with central islands.

Tickets are now on sale for the first ever ‘You can do it’ event to be held in Stoke-on-Trent on 22 August. Fenton Manor Sports Complex has been chosen to host the event that will feature artists such as McLean, who will be performing his top 10 hit ‘My Name’ along with his new singles ‘Finally in Love’ and ‘Broken’.

Smokers in Stoke-on-Trent are being warned that fake tobacco and cigarettes could prove hazardous to their health if they decide to use them. The counterfeits, which are often packaged to resemble well known brands, are offered for sale at severely reduced prices to tempt people into buying them - but these cigarettes are made from highly toxic materials that can even include rat droppings. The fakes are so dangerous that doctors have warned they are responsible for four times as many deaths as

A pioneering trial to improve the housing maintenance service provided to council tenants has seen customer services staff and tradesmen work out of the same office for the first time. A team of seven Stoke-on-Trent City Council contact centre workers yesterday (Thursday) temporarily moved base from their Fenton offices to the authority’s housing maintenance provider Kier Stoke at Cromer Road, Northwood. The pilot is a groundbreaking initiative between the two organisations to improve services f

Residents are being encouraged to grow their own fruit and vegetables in a project designed to get communities active and healthy. Project Grow is a pilot scheme being trialled in Port Street and Travis Street, in Middleport. On Saturday (14) residents are being given the chance to have a literal ‘taster’ as staff encourage people to sign up to the courses and offer free cookery tasting sessions and advice at the Middleport Park Community Fun Day between 12pm and 4.30pm.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has announced the preferred site for the new Discovery Academy. Members of the city council’s BSF (Building School for the Future) Board have today agreed the recommendation that the preferred site for the new academy is land at the Willfield Centre, Lauder Place North, Bentilee. The announcement comes after a five month feasibility study carried out by independent planning advisers Broadway Malyan.

A city centre theatre is to benefit from an extra boost as approval is given for a unique glass fronted extension. Councillors at Stoke-on-Trent City Council today gave the green light during a full council meeting for a café extension and balcony at the Mitchell Memorial Youth Arts Theatre, in Broad Street, Stoke-on-Trent. The café extension, inspired by the famous Reginald Mitchell designed spitfire, is the final piece of a £4 million refurbishment of the community theatre.