Online Christmas activities plus Festive gifts
Museums and libraries in Stoke-on-Trent are providing a host of festive online activities, services and shopping opportunities to help families mark the run up to Christmas.
The buildings may be temporarily closed to the public because of current Covid restrictions, but there are lots of alternative opportunities to entertain the family, as well as pick up some unique presents before the big day.
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery will be holding online events, children’s activities and digital exhibitions to help residents celebrate.
Gladstone Pottery Museum is running an advent calendar on its social media channels – using videos of real doors at the museum – as well as a ‘12 kilns of Christmas’ celebration.
For residents who need the perfect Christmas gift, both museums are also offering fantastic call and collect services from their gift shops. There is a huge range of locally-produced items and presents such as artwork and craft items that customers won’t find on the High Street.
Other ‘Stokie’ items at the Potteries Museum include Staffordshire Hoard-inspired jewellery, ceramics featuring the iconic Spitfire, studio pottery created by local artists and even jewellery made with real flowers. The Gladstone shop includes beautiful ceramics made and decorated by the skilled demonstration staff at the museum. There are also Stoke-on-Trent greetings cards, bottle oven-inspired gifts, local history books, lots of ware from city businesses and more.
Customers can check out the wide selection of items online, then call the museums to order, pay and arrange a safe location for collection. The sites also offer a post and package service. More information can be found HERE
Stoke-on-Trent’s libraries are running their click, call and collect service. As part of this, the libraries are also creating Christmas book bundles for children – with a range of festive options available for families to borrow.
Librarians are also putting on a series of online activities for children and families to help everyone get in the festive spirit, including Christmas story times, craft sessions and sing-along events. These will all be available via Stoke-on-Trent Libraries’ Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/stokeontrentlibraries/
Councillor Lorraine Beardmore, Stoke-on-Trent City Council cabinet member for public health, culture and leisure said: “Our museum and library teams have worked really hard during the pandemic to entertain families online, and Christmas will be no exception. This Christmas will be different for many of us, and for regular visitors of the libraries and museums, they won’t be able to join in with the normal activities we would be running, so its fantastic that we can still have virtual Christmas activities for families to enjoy. These sites play a really important part in the festive season and for many will be part of their Christmas traditions, so make sure you check out their social media and give them a follow for all of the latest information about what’s coming up. Remember, you can still click, call and collect books from our libraries in a covid-secure way – and the Christmas bundles are a great way of enjoying reading with your family over the holidays. Plus the online videos with our librarians are really fun – they’re definitely getting into the festive spirit.
“Also, don’t miss the chance to use the museums’ gift shop call and collect services – there are some amazing, locally-produced items that you can’t get anywhere else. Supporting the museum shops will give something back to local businesses and the items on sale make fantastic presents for everyone who loves this city.”
Christmas opening times for the city council’s museums, libraries and other services will be available via stoke.gov.uk
READ more about Festive activities HERE
