Cllr Ian Mitchell

Veteran Labour Party member and activist Mick Williams has resigned from the party in protest at the candidate selection process used for both the parliamentary and local elections. His resignation ends a 46 year association with the Labour Party.

People who have an interest in the proposed location for the new Discovery Academy in Stoke-on-Trent are being asked for their views as part of a feasibility study being carried out on behalf of the city council. The proposed Academy is one of five brand new academies planned to be built in the city as part of the £250m Building Schools for the Future programme. The independent study will look at possible locations for the Discovery Academy and then advise on a preferred site.

The winners of a bookmark competition aiming to teach children and young people in the city about staying safe will be presented with their prizes tomorrow (Thursday March 18) at Fenton Manor Sports Centre. The competition, which was open to all schools in the city, challenged pupils to create a bookmark covering the theme of staying safe; one of the five Every Child Matters outcomes.

Young people from Moorland Park Youth Centre will be showing off the results of a recent project to highlight alcohol abuse next week. Walls at the community centre have been decorated with graffiti, painted by youngsters attending workshops, and will be unveiled next week, with the artists signing their names on their creation.

City Council’s Fostering Service have launched a campaign urging people in the city to “be the big difference” by supporting disabled children and their families needing a short break. Short Breaks are the support service requested by families of disabled children. They are regular opportunities for families to have a break from caring while the child enjoys spending time with a short break carer.

Organisations which look after young children across Stoke-on-Trent are being invited to take part in a city-wide event on March 17. Stoke Speaks Out Day is aimed at raising awareness of the help some younger children need with speech and language skills. Nurseries, schools, childminder groups and children’s centres are all invited to take part, and to run what’s described as a “communication activity” on the 17th, which could be anything from singing nursery rhymes to story telling.

Sharon Menghini has been appointed as the new Director of Children and Young People’s Services at Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Sharon was appointed after a meeting of the city council’s Human Resources Committee on Thursday 18 February. She will join the city council from her current role as Director of Children and Young People’s Services at Herefordshire County Council. Sharon has worked as Director of Children’s Services at Herefordshire Council since April 2007.

A series of free activities - including canoeing and angling -   is being organised for children with disabilities in Stoke-on-Trent.   The Aiming High for Disabled Children programme which will be launched later this month has been put developed as a partnership between Stoke-on-Trent City Council and NHS Stoke on  Trent and will run until March 2011.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council today announced another major step forward in its Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme when senior members of the council, along with representatives of the council’s two selected design and build contractors, Balfour Beatty and Thomas Vale/Wates, signed the “overarching agreement” which confirms both sides’ financial commitment to the project.   This will enable detailed work on the