Our local newspaper column

In 2012, Mike Wolfe, writing for The Sentinel, announced the “CLOCK plan launched Just in Time to Challenge Legal Cuts”, stating “If you think all lawyers are rich white men without any social conscience then you should have joined me at an event at Keele University last week.”

The Potteries. A belching, smoking, grimy fug of high production and by royal design.

I was 10 years old when the Miners’ Strike was called in 1984.

It was December 2023. I'd not long been in post at Keele University and, like any writer worth their salt, I was browsing in the local literature section of the library looking for my books and whose spines they were nuzzling.

Not many homes in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire will have been talking about local government over Christmas dinner.

There has been a great deal of debate in recent weeks about the future of universities and their value to society.

At Keele University, we are delighted to celebrate Stoke-on-Trent’s recent magnificent award of World Craft City status by currently exhibiting a solo retrospective of work by the great ceramic artist Philip Hardaker, active in Stoke-on-Trent since 1985

On November 5th, some 240 million voters will have the opportunity to vote for the next President and Vice-President of the United States, but in reality, only a small amount of those votes will be influential.

Here in the Potteries, like other proud working-class areas across the country, storytelling has always been an important part of our culture

As students approach their results day next week - including those at our North Staffordshire partner colleges including Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group, Stoke-on-Trent College and City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College - they are likely to be experiencing a range of emotions.

In 2019, the historic victories for the Conservative Party in the three Stoke-on-Trent seats and in Newcastle-under-Lyme reflected the broader national picture.

International Nurses Day is celebrated on May 12th each year and commemorates the birth of Florence Nightingale.

This Saturday will mark the end of the Keele Green Festival 2024 – the University’s annual festival celebrating sustainability.

In 2015 nations of the world, including the UK, pledged they would do their best to limit the climate catastrophe to only 1.5 degrees of warming. A few weeks ago, we momentarily breached this limit. But why does any of this matter?

It is hard to understate the crisis in local authorities.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provided a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Last week's Autumn Statement was meant to be a good news story.

As part of the recent Inspiring Stokies: The Big Tutorials event at Stoke-on-Trent College, I was asked to deliver talks to around 400 young people at the college’s Burslem campus.

When it comes to coping with problems related to mood and stress, older people will often suffer in silence.

In August 2023, renewable energy accounted for 35.9% of our national electricity supply (23.6% wind, 6.8% solar, 4.2% biomass and 1.3% hydro) – yet we could achieve so much more.

For September, it is hot. This week we are seeing high temperatures, reaching 28°C on Saturday, leaving many of us asking if this is normal, or is it the result of climate change.

The devastating heatwaves and wildfires we have seen across Europe forcing people to flee and holidays to be cut short are yet another symptom of the climate catastrophe we are heading in to.

The recently published NHS Plan outlines the case for a long-term strategy to ensure the NHS has appropriate levels of staffing to meet health needs of the future, focusing on three areas of Train Retain and Reform.

Our Armed Forces are a source of huge pride for many people in Britain.

Keele University was established in 1949 with a very clear remit to support the communities in North Staffordshire and beyond. As we move towards our 75th anniversary next year we have been reflecting on how we continue to have an impact in the city and region.

I’m writing this in a café in Toulouse, which is lovely, but only relevant when I tell you it’s because the Harper & Keele Vet School (HKVS) is very proud sponsor at the Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine conference here this week.

Now March is here, you may be able to see the first signs of spring.

When I met Randal Keynes, the distinguished conservationist, more than a decade ago, I didn’t have to explain.

Nursing is the largest, the most diverse, and one of the most respected of all the health care professions, with millions of registered nurses worldwide.

Anyone who works with young people across North Staffordshire and south Cheshire - or indeed has children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighbours and so on - will know that they are amongst the most creative and bright children in the country

On a daily basis, I invite representatives from business and the local community to attend a tour of Keele University’s smart energy network, where I open with an overview of the university’s achievements in energy sustainability.

Climate change is taking effect with devastating effects, and as temperatures have already been pushed up to 1.2C above pre-industrial levels, it is looking unlikely that we will stay below the 1.5C level recommended by the International Panel for Climate Change to limit the effects.

NASA’s Artemis programme aims to have people walk on the Moon again in the next few years, with a price tag of tens of billions of pounds.

Professor Zoe Robinson on why COP27 matters

COVID - the large viral elephant in the room that no-one wants to talk about.

The scientific community has been warning us about climate change with increasing clarity since evidence began to emerge in the 1950s.

My Grandad was one of the most intelligent people I ever met.

Heart disease is a major health issue in Staffordshire, where heart and circulatory disease kill one in four people.

To be a nurse, for many, is seen as a ‘calling’, providing a lifelong career in an honourable profession, caring for people at their time of need.

Rising fuel costs are a driving concern for an increasing number of people across Staffordshire wondering how they will be able to afford to heat their homes.