22.02.23 – Staffordshire Armed Forces Covenant, Staffordshire History Centre

Staffordshire’s council leaders have joined together to reaffirm their commitment to the county’s Armed Forces community and to encourage other organisations to pledge their support.

Leader of Staffordshire County Council, Alan White, along with other council leaders, together with the military, met in Stafford to re-sign the Armed Forces Covenant.

The Covenant is a promise by the nation ensuring those who serve/have served and their families, are treated fairly ensuring all members of the Armed Forces community have the same access to public and commercial services as any other citizen does.

The declaration builds upon already strong relationships between partners to ensure the principles of the Covenant are upheld locally.

Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said “The Borough and many of its residents have a long connection with the military and it’s right and fitting that we support those who have served their country, often in the most difficult circumstances.”

Speaking at the event, Alan White said: “We hope the re-signing will encourage other organisations across the County to pledge their support.”

The Staffordshire Armed Forces Covenant was signed In Stafford on Thursday 16 February 2023.

Further details on how organisations can pledge their support for the Armed Forces community is available at Home – Armed Forces Covenant.

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Work to build a new £5.1m history centre for Staffordshire has started.   Over a thousand years of the county’s history will be brought to life in an exciting new heritage project for the county. The project has been made possible thanks to a grant of £4.8million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.  The new centre will see an extension to the existing Staffordshire Record Office building on Eastgate Street in Stafford, incorporating the renovated and redisplayed William Salt Library building.  A modern glazed entrance will link both buildings, creating a bright exhibition space to showcase museum, archive, and library collections. Additional strong rooms will provide space for a further 55 years of collections.

The total cost of the project is £8,780,239 with a grant of £4,858,699 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, made possible by money raised by National Lottery players.  Additional match funding of £3,921,540 was raised by the partnership, including Staffordshire County Council funding, grants, donations from local organisations and friends and in-kind contributions from volunteers.

People can keep up to date with the project at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Heritage-and-archives/Staffordshire-History-Centre