City centenary legacy must be expression of love and joy for home

So, that was our Centenary Year. Stoke-on-Trent, 100 years young. A century of creativity, community, and commerce. Six towns forging a new identity as one city.

And as far as birthday parties go, this last 12 months have been an absolute wonder. It has been a year-long celebration of who we are and what we do. It has been a blast! From tea parties to parades with murals, park runs, competitions and concerts in between, we took every negative view of Stoke-on-Trent and tossed it aside and focussed on everything we know that makes our city great.

We reminded ourselves of what it means to be loud and proud about the towns and neighbourhoods that positively contribute to our collective identity. We celebrated everything about our city that makes us smile and laugh. And it was so important that we did because it is easy, sometimes, to only focus on the areas of Stoke-on-Trent that need work and convince ourselves that all is hopeless.

Lazy commentators from outside the city often talk down where we live to promote a stereotype and chase clickbait headlines. Even our neighbours across Staffordshire kick out at our city and our people for cheap political gain.

‘Say no to Stoke’ is a gimmick designed for division. It is an insult to the people who call this city home. We are not perfect. I know just how many challenges we face and how big some of the mountains are we must climb.

Being an MP is being at the coalface of some of the biggest issues facing the communities I speak for. I see people at their most desperate, when most in need and I see the devastation brought on the city after 14 years of cuts and austerity. I see the very best but also the very worst parts of the city. But if you spend time with us. If you get to see who we and what we can do, the picture you take away is one of a city that is fizzing with innovative ideas, that is overflowing with community spirit and that is hungry for change.

 For the first time that I remember, the centenary year has brought together all the best parts of our city with one simple aim. To unashamedly shout about how brilliant we are.

As we head in to our 101st year, we must hold onto that sense of celebration and continue to draft a new story for our city that focuses on the positives. The legacy of our centenary year needs to be an expression of the love and joy we all have for the place we call home. It must be a recommitment to telling a better story about the city and challenge those who look to talk us down.

The centenary celebrations showed what we can achieve with a concerted and unified focus on our strengths. The end of the centenary year cannot be an excuse to put that optimism away and fall back into the business-as-usual approach of moans, groans, and disgruntlement. The price we will pay for doing so will be huge and it would be a disservice to every person in Stoke-on-Trent. That is my New Year’s resolution, and it is my challenge to all of us. To work harder to solve the problems we know we face but not allow those problems to define who we are.

So Happy New Year to everyone and here is to the next 100 years of Stoke-on-Trent.