I'm at ADS Truck Parking to meet the team and have a look at some of their fantastic facilities for drivers. They are doing a great job for drivers whether it's providing home cooked food, clean toilets or a friendly atmosphere to combat loneliness. They've successfully bid for £222,000 in government funding to further improve their facilities and I'm joined by owners Andy and Bernadette to tell us more.

There are so many fantastic jobs and training opportunities in Stoke-on-Trent just waiting to be taken up. I recently held a jobs and skills fair with fellow MPs at the King's Hall, where more than 50 employers met with jobseekers. I spoke to some of them in this episode. 

Vikki, Clare and the team at Acacia training based in Trentham is doing some incredible work helping people with disabilities into training and employment. These opportunities are fantastic, they are in sectors such as health and social care, administration and manufacturing. I went along to hear more about their work, and I met Kelly - one of their Kickstarters.

I’m proud to see a local company coming up with an ingenious invention to clean up our public transport and make it Covid-safe safe for passengers. I joined Simon Whitney from V-Stop on a D&G bus at their depot to see it in action - the sanitiser is pumped into the bus through nozzles and kills up to 99% of viruses and bacteria. Incredible.

Our schools are doing a fantastic job giving lessons digitally and keeping our children learning during this challenging time. I was pleased to join Weston Junior and Infant Academies to thank the teachers and pupils and take some questions. Year 2 certainly put me through my paces - and you can hear how it went in this episode!

Meet Chief Nurse Michelle Rhodes who is heading up the local vaccine programme at the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs Royal Stoke. The team is doing an incredible job - so far they’ve delivered 14,000 jabs. However they are still under immense pressure as they help patients suffering from Covid. Michelle and Tracy Bullock (also a nurse and the Trust's Chief Executive) join me in this episode.

Our iconic ceramics industry has been hit hard by coronavirus. We must act now to help our manufacturers, protect jobs, and pass the industry down to the next generation. Stoke makes the best ceramics in the world. I brought together some of our local manufacturers and together we've come up with a recovery plan which I'm now taking to the heart of government. More here. 

Stoke-on-Trent’s businesses are gradually re-opening their doors as we recover from the Covid crisis. Our ceramics industry is one which has been significantly impacted and is working to rebound from the past few months. I caught up with Hannah from Valentine Clays and Keith from Foley Pottery to listen to their challenges and how they’re getting back on their feet after lockdown. 

Covid changed life massively for students with learning disabilities and difficulties at Strathmore College, and the team has been working hard to adapt and provide some level of normality at this time. Principal Kate Ward joins me in this episode.

Did you know Stoke has received £57 million from the government to help businesses during this pandemic, and 82 per cent of eligible businesses have received the grants. It's thanks to Stoke City Council leader Abi Brown and her fantastic team for making this happen so quickly. Now they are working hard to get our city up and running again as we recover from Covid. Abi joins me in this episode.