Posted on Wednesday 21st May 2025
1. Hannah Ault, Chair of We Are Staffordshire Place Board, Jason Simms of Duchess China, Louise Shaw of We Are Staffordshire with the winners of the plate competition.
Plates depicting what Staffordshire means to young people are being displayed in the coming months at locations across the county.
Nine winning designs were chosen by the public as part of We Are Staffordshire’s Design a Plate for Staffordshire Day competition earlier this month. They represent schools from each area of Staffordshire and have been recreated as stunning ceramic versions by Stoke-on-Trent based Duchess China 1888.
The plates are currently on display at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley and will also be displayed at Lichfield Cathedral and Burton Brewhouse & Arts Centre following that.
Hannah Ault DL, Chair of We Are Staffordshire’s Place Board and Managing Director of Valentine Clays, said:
As Chair of We Are Staffordshire and President of Ceramics UK, I am absolutely thrilled to be celebrating the incredible creativity of our young people through this exciting project.
It’s exciting to be able to share these plates with the public across the county in the months ahead. We’re proud to be the home of ceramics so there’s no better place to showcase the designs.
At Lichfield Cathedral, we’ll also be showcasing runners up entries too, which is fantastic as there were so many excellent designs. The passion of young people for our county is clear to see and the project has been a wonderful reminder of everything that makes our county such a special place to live, work, and create. I’d really urge you to visit one of the venues to see them for yourself.”
In addition to having their plates made, winners were also given the opportunity to visit Gladstone Pottery Museum to celebrate Staffordshire Day, an annual event on 1 May.
Twenty primary schools from across the county took part in the competition, with Year 4 and 5 pupils being asked to design plates based on what they love about Staffordshire. Over 300 votes were cast to choose the winners.
Dates for confirmed displays are as follows:
• 16 May – 2 June, Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• 24 May – 30 June, Lichfield Cathedral
• 1 – 31 July, Burton Brewhouse & Arts Centre, Burton upon Trent
The display will also visit Staffordshire History Centre in Stafford and Tamworth Castle with dates still to be confirmed. Following the displays, the plates will be given a permanent home at the Spode Museum and the winners will each receive a plate of their own as well.
The display will also visit Staffordshire History Centre in Stafford and Tamworth Castle with dates still to be confirmed. Following the displays, the plates will be given a permanent home at the Spode Museum and the winners will each receive a plate of their own as well.
Further information on the competition and winners can be found here: Staffordshire Day competition winners crowned at the home of ceramics - We Are Staffordshire
People can also watch a short video of some of the winners at Gladstone Pottery at https://youtu.be/S-TVL8j11PQ