The welsh born presenter will welcome guests and stars onto the Hanley Park stage from the world of sport, lead the crowd in the countdown to the Flame’s arrival as well as introduce a chart topping act.

Upon coming to Stoke-on-Trent, Geraint, said

It’s great to be a part of the Olympic journey and it’s an honour to be in Stoke for what is going to be a fantastic celebratory evening.

Councillor Mark Meredith, cabinet member for economic development, said

Geraint is a host of real calibre who is sure to make keep the crowd entertained. His blend of experiences with sport and music stars makes him the perfect host for Stoke-on-Trent’s moment to shine.

Geraint is a versatile presenter with years of live television experience including reporting for Sportsround and Match of the Day Kickabout on the CBBC channel where he interviewed sports stars including F1 driver Jenson Button, boxer David Haye, footballers Ryan Giggs and Clarence Seedorf and cyclist Chris Hoy. He has also presented for Sky Sports covering the UK School Games which was held in Cardiff 2009.

In case you were wondering, this is Geraint Hardy

Who do you think should be on stage in Hanley Park on 30 May?

Posted from Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom.

Councillor Martin Garner, Chair of the HR Committee explained,

Five excellent candidates were interviewed for the position of Assistant Chief Executive over a two-day period of assessments last week. The process was hard and the competition very close with candidates being interviewed by a young people’s panel, external stakeholders including fire service and health service representatives, and interviews with elected members. The HR Committee was unanimous in its decision to offer the job to Charlie with cross party support from both Labour and City Independent Councillors.

These are exciting times for the city council and I am certain in appointing Charlie that we have someone who is highly qualified and abundantly experienced to perform well in this post and help to deliver our Mandate for Change by ensuring we are a confident and effective council fit for purpose.

Charlie Stewart added,

I am delighted to be joining the council at such an exciting time in the city’s development. I look forward to working with local people to help achieve Stoke-on-Trent’s great potential.

Previously Charlie worked at West Sussex County Council in both frontline and support roles. He started his career in the Royal Air Force at RAF Stafford (he says “it feels like coming home”). He then worked for 3 global businesses; a global IT and software supplier, as a Director for company supplying medical equipment to the NHS and as a consultant working with business and government. Charlie also holds an MBA from Cranfield University and graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Biology from King’s College London.

It is expected Charlie Stewart will take up the post in a few months’ time, a date is yet to be confirmed.

 

Posted from Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom.

There are however stil plans to scale back local radio coverage this is expected to include a new shared programme for all of England that will be broadcast on weekday evenings from 1900 -2200. Stations will be able to opt out of the All England program to cover local sports.

The BBC Trust also announced

• Afternoon sharing will be limited to a very small number of stations, either where currently operational or where there are strong editorial reasons for doing so
• Sport and other community output will be more protected than originally proposed to ensure range and variety. There will be a number of editorial changes to how stations schedule minority output, with most of this output scheduled at weekends
• Cuts to on the ground journalists and reporters will be much lower with additional efficiency savings targeted at reducing layers of management within local stations.

BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten said

This is the end of a lengthy process for the BBC, designed to ensure we can meet a tough but fair licence settlement for the next five years. Delivering the changes we have approved today will be challenging, but they are necessary.

We’ve listened carefully to the views of those who care about the BBC, and taken our time to get this right, encouraging the executive to amend plans where we think they need further thought, as the changes to local radio proposals show.

Our focus now is to ensure that audiences notice as little change as possible to the services they know and love, and we will be monitoring audience reactions very carefully through our ongoing programme of reviews and reports.

What do you think of the new proposals for BBC local radio?

Posted from Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom.

This support, secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund, secured by Stoke-on-Trent City Council make Burslem only the second town in the country to have the opportunity of receiving three successive rounds of HLF cash. Together with match funding of £1.2m from the European Regional Development Fund and private investment, it will pump around £4m into the town.

Councillor Ruth Rosenau, cabinet member for regeneration, planning and transportation, said

HLF have told us that the £1m funding is in place, provided our final detailed proposals fully meet the programme criteria. They have also congratulated us on the quality of our application and work to date.

This is a massive boost for Burslem, and builds on tremendously positive work over the last five years to rejuvenate the Mother Town’s historic buildings and preserve the town’s heritage.

The first stage support from HLF includes a development grant of £15,200 for the council to develop a full application, and means that the council can continue to build strong partnerships in the town with the assurance that funding is secured.

Queen Street Burslem

If successful the new funding would concentrate on Burslem’s Historic Quadrant, to help address the fact that 21 per cent of properties in the town’s conservation area are currently vacant, and contain 14 semi-derelict buildings. The £1m funding should help attract new business into renovated properties, increase footfall in the town, and help stimulate development of brownfield land on the edge of the town centre including driving up demand for housing developments.

Reyahn King, Head of HLF West Midlands, said

HLF investment goes well beyond the bricks and mortar of a building. THI schemes can really help turn around local economies, not only by improving how they look and feel, but by prompting business start-ups and creating new training opportunities. We are delighted to be able to work with Stoke-on-Trent City Council on these plans that will help transform Burslem and look forward to seeing them progress.

Since 2007, the Townscape Heritage Initiative has seen the city council, Advantage West Midlands, Heritage Lottery Fund and local investment from building owners plough £4m into Burslem. It has successfully supported projects to restore the integrity of historically important streets and buildings within Burslem’s conservation area and act as the catalyst for economic growth for the town.

It has supported initiatives including Swan Bank Methodist Mission, 12-14a Nile Street Live Work Units, Burslem School of Art’s Orangery, 2-4 Market Place (Barewall) and the Swan Hotel.

The second round of the THI funding has renovated 36 properties in the town centre, including 10 properties that were derelict and have now been brought back into use. The programme has reduced the number of empty units in the town centre and has increased businesses in the town from 137 in 2006 to 182 in 2012.

Councillor Rosenau said

The programme is having a significant impact on the historic and economic environment of Burslem town centre. It has helped kick-start the town’s regeneration by bringing derelict buildings back into use, creating a real vibrancy in the town.

The improvement in appearance of buildings and streets has attracted investment, new jobs and restored historic floor space.

But there is further work to do, and the new funding will address this, to ensure the town’s historic buildings are preserved for years to come.

Is it right that Burslem should get a third bite at the funding cherry or should the City Council be looking at getting funding for other towns such as Fenton which often seems to be ignored?

Posted from Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom.

Last month 6,000 tickets went up for grabs for the city’s Olympic Torch Relay Evening Celebration, now only 2,000 tickets remain available and residents are being urged to act fast to avoid disappointment.

Residents can apply for tickets up until 5pm on Friday May 18, 2012 at www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/35004892BB7D90BB. While tickets are free of charge there will be a nominal booking fee.

As well as the 6000 tickets available to residents a further 6,000 tickets are being distributed at the request of London 2012 to the Torch Relay Presenting Partners, schools participating in the Torch Relay Community Parade, Torchbearers and Children’s Promise families. Young people from every community in Stoke-on-Trent will be attending the event.

The Flame will arrive in Stoke-on-Trent on Wednesday May 30 at 6:34pm on the Stoke Road junction of Station Road before moving on to Avenue Road, College Road, Cleveland Road and the Parkway before entering the event arena.

Councillor Mark Meredith, cabinet member for economic development, said

The evening celebration is set to be the biggest event the city has ever hosted and we are extremely proud to be hosting an event of such international significance. The eyes of the world will be on Stoke-on-Trent during that evening and this is the chance for local people to become part of this summer’s Olympic legacy.

There are still tickets available but people need to act quickly in order to secure their place. If people cannot get tickets to the event then I hope they line the streets and see the Olympic Torch pass through our city. We have a unique opportunity to show what Stoke-on-Trent has to offer and take our place as a city that can hold its own in the international spotlight.

Olympic partygoers will get to see the chart-topping Kids In Glass Houses perform live as well as guest appearances from a host of sport stars. There will also be incredible acrobatic performances and inspirational local cultural content and digital displays before the Olympic Torch arrives.

Those who are not able to get evening celebration tickets can still line the streets through Shelton for the schools parade where nearly 1,000 children and young people from local schools, colleges and universities will represent Olympic nations on their way to Hanley Park.

Councillor Mohammed Pervez, Leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, added

The city council is proud to be involved with the Olympic Torch Relay. The Olympics have brought people together from all walks of life and this is a great chance to unite the city as one and show what a great place Stoke-on-Trent is to live and work. It’s incredibly encouraging to see so many tickets already snapped up and I hope people take this opportunity to be part of something truly inspirational.

Further free entertainment will take place in Hanley Park before the Torch passes through the city’s streets and thousands of people are expected to line the route to witness their own Olympic moment.

Following the evening celebration the Flame will be stored overnight in the city departing from the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery at 7am on Thursday May 31, before taking in the City Centre, Burslem, Middleport, and out of Stoke-on-Trent.

Further information about the event can be found at www.stoke.gov.uk/olympics2012.

Posted from Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom.

Competitors from across the region, including 38 athletes from the North Staffordshire Special Olympics Athletics Team will take part in track and field competitions. The events include 3000 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres races, standing long jump, shot putt, and the pentathlon.

The athletes will take part in the North Staffordshire Special Olympics Athletics Competition which is being held at Northwood Stadium, near the City Centre. The competition takes place between 10am and 5pm on Saturday May 19, guests invited include the Deputy Lord Lieutenant Humphrey Scott-Moncrieff, High Sherriff Sarah Elsby, The Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent councillor Terry Follows, and former Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent Tom Brennan.

Councillor Matt Fry, the Special Olympics fundraiser and promoter, said,

I’m hugely excited that this Special Olympics competition is taking place in Stoke-on-Trent. It’s an area that I’m actively involved in and one that I’m very passionate about. I hope local people take the time to come and support these inspirational young men and women during what should be an exciting competition.

Special Olympics Great Britain is the country’s largest provider of a year round sports training and competition programme for all people with learning disabilities. Special Olympics are part of the Olympic family, but unlike the Paralympics, which is for elite disabled athletes, it is not just a sporting event.  Special Olympics concentrate on community sport at all levels and for all disabilities.

Councillor Mark Meredith, cabinet member for economic development, added,

With the eyes of the world firmly on the UK at the moment with the upcoming Olympic Games it makes us extremely proud as a city to have so many talented athletes from Stoke-on-Trent getting involved. This competition is something which gives a unique chance to those who have faced different challenges growing up and it’s there moment to shine.

Medals presentations will take place after each event and there will be an opening ceremony for each of the teams taking part where the Special Olympics’ oath will be said

Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.

Posted from Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom.

Mr Hunt said

This is a fantastic opportunity for 27 cities across the country to demonstrate how they’d revolutionise the way their residents and businesses get online.

These ultrafast speeds will allow more cities in the UK to compete with the fastest in the world, bringing new opportunities for growth, the development of high tech industries and the transformation of public services.

To be able to bid for the fund cities must have a Royal Charter and more than 45,000 homes and businesses, or more than 35,000 homes and businesses in Northern Ireland.

The eligible cities are

• Aberdeen
• Brighton & Hove
• Cambridge
• Chelmsford
• Coventry
• Derby
• Dundee
• Exeter
• Gloucester
• Kingston upon Hull
• Leicester
• Londonderry / Derry
• Newport
• Norwich
• Oxford
• Perth
• Peterborough
• Plymouth
• Portsmouth
• Preston
• Salford
• Southampton
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Sunderland
• Swansea
• Wolverhampton
• York

Bidding cities will need to produce plans for how they will use their share of the £50 million and detailed bidding guidance will be published by 18 May. The projects will have to include the creation of a contiguous area offering fixed ultrafast broadband of at least 80-100Mbps broadband as well as high speed wireless connectivity.

Councillor Mark Meredith, cabinet member for economic development, said

We will be making a bid for a proportion of this funding in order to benefit residents and businesses across the city. We will explore the potential of this funding further when we receive the bid guidance papers later this month.

The Lidice atrocity was Hitlers response to Reichs-protektor SS Obergruppenfuhrer – Reinherd Heydrich being mortally wounded in an operation by Czechoslovak parachutists on May 27 1942. Following a directive from Hitler himself it was decided that there be an act of vengeance for the death of “an outstanding man of the German nation”, and for this they chose the people of Lidice.

Shortly after midnight on 10 June 1942 the 173 men of Lidice were executed in the garden of the Horak farm. The women and children were taken to the gymnasium of Kladno grammar school. After 3 days the children were taken from their mothers, some were lucky and were sent for re-education with German families along with all children under 1 year of age. The rest were not so lucky and were taken to the extermination camp at Chełmno, Poland where they were gassed. The women of Lidice were sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp.

The Nazis then began to systematically destroy the village itself, first setting the houses on fire and then razing them to the ground with plastic explosives. They did not stop at that but proceeded to destroy the church and even the last place of rest – the cemetery. ln 1943 all that remained was an empty space. Until the end of the war the site was marked by notices forbidding entry.

The news of the destruction of Lidice spread rapidly around the world. But the Nazi intention to wipe the little Czech village off the face of the Earth did not succeed.

The atrocity committed by the Germans against this defenceless mining community outraged the British public, particularly in the mining communities of North Staffordshire and from Stoke-on-Trent came the defiant voice of Shelton GP and city councillor Dr Barnett Stross, who coined the slogan “Lidice Shall Live” in direct response to Hitler’s orders that “Lidice Would Die Forever!”. “The miner’s lamp dispels the shadows on the coal face,” Dr Stross wrote at the time. “It can also send a ray of light across the sea to those who struggle in darkness.”

The “Lidice Shall Live” Movement was formally launched three months later, at a mass meeting in the Victoria Hall, Hanley, with the Czech president-in-exile, Dr Edouard Benes, as the chief speaker. This defiance spread across many other British communities where fundraising appeals were regularly held. And this gave the lead to the free world so that the campaign to rebuild the village after the war spread worldwide. After the war the equivalent of £1m was donated to the rebuilding of a new village.

Alan Gerrard told Pits n Pots

The cost of a wreath from the british people will cost £150 however we would like to set up an area in the “Park of Peace and Friendship” set aside for contributions from Great Britain.

There are two reasons for this, representations from the UK are currently near zero compared to other nations and Lidice has lost many of its roses over the last few years due to harsh winters. So we are aiming to raise £500 in total to replace the roses that have been lost.

Anything we raise over our target will be used to extend the Great Britain section of the rose garden further and will contribute towards the roll of honour.

You can read more about the Lidice atrocity and make a donation to the People’s Wreath for Lidice fund here

 

Posted from Lidice, Central Bohemia, Czech Republic.

Delegates at the 17 May event will be given a chance to debate a major new piece of research commissioned by CoRE on how the UK construction industry can respond to the need to make our homes greener and meet higher carbon reduction standards.  

The report - Fabric First and Refurbishment Excellence: Up-skilling to Deliver the Green Deal and Beyond – has been compiled by Dr Andrew Ainsworth of research specialists Room 4 consulting.

He will be joined by a panel of speakers including

• Jonathan Davis, the Chief Executive of CoRE
• Lynne Sullivan OBE, a leading expert in sustainable design
• Dr Peter Bonfield, Chief Executive of BRE, which developed the internationally recognised BREEAM standard of environmental assessment
• Ted Miller, Head of Operational Learning at E.ON
• Stephen Passmore, Technical Delivery Manager at the Energy Savings Trust
• Neil May, Chief Executive of Natural Building Technologies
• Fran Bradshaw, Partner at Anne Thorne Architects
• Jane Forshaw, Assistant Director of City Services at Stoke-on-Trent City Council
• Pat Bowen, Future Skills Manager for Construction Skills the UK Sector Skills Council for Construction.

Jonathan Davis, Chief Executive of CoRE, said

Our first CoRE conference is set to be a fascinating and informative event. We have lined-up a panel which includes some of the foremost professionals in architecture and the refurbishment industry to debate how we go beyond the Government’s Green Deal to provide UK residents with low carbon housing fit for the future.

CoRE’s research provides real solutions and will be of value to the construction industry in shaping how they train and equip their staff to meet new environmental targets.

We have also planned a Question Time style debate where delegates can quiz the expert panel.

The event on 17 May will launch the conference programme at the new Centre of Refurbishment Excellence and outline a blueprint for the refurbishment of properties in the UK.

Delegates can sign-up for the conference on-line at www.core-skills.com

Posted from here.

Steelite, Churchill & Portmeirion have all reported good profits recently and Emma Bridgewater looks set to double its predicted sales this year.

Steelite reported and almost 10% increase in profit in 2011, £66.3m over £60.6 the previous year.

Churchill reported in the year to 31 December 2011 pre-tax profit rose to £2.7m, compared with £2.3 in 2010.

Portmeirion reported that pre-tax profits also increased from £5.2m to £6.3m in the year to 31 December 2011 based on revenue of £53.6m, up from £51.2m in the previous year.

Emma Bridgewater is expecting a bumper year this year with an expected £1.5m in sales of Diamond Jubilee commemorative items alone. John Lewis has increased its order four fold, London store Fortnum & Masons has increased its original order by six fold and Harrods has committed to an order some seven times larger than its Royal Wedding order last year.

Matthew Rice said

Emma and I are both fiercely patriotic and have created commemorative ware for every royal occasion for the past 25 years. However, we have never seen demand such as that we’re experiencing for our Jubilee range.

Emma Bridgewater filed turnover of £12.8m in the year to 30 April 2011.

Posted from here.