Heather Bellamy considers the impact of Lloyd Cooke's work and faith on the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the nation.

Lloyd Cooke

He might be a self-confessed 'Hobbit' at heart, but Lloyd Cooke is now one of the 100 most influential people in Stoke-on-Trent, according to a list compiled and published by local paper, The Sentinel.

A true 'Stokie', Lloyd, who is 54 and married with one child, has worked in the city all his life. His first job was as a Business Administration Apprentice for Michelin in 1980, gaining promotion to a Regional Sales Administrator before he left in 1986 to work as an Advertising Executive for the Sentinel Newspaper.

Becoming Director of Christian charity, Saltbox, in 1988, Lloyd now oversees social projects for the elderly, those in debt and ex-offenders, with 40 staff, 30 volunteers and 1,300 people helped each year. He is also Chair of groups such as Stoke-on-Trent Healthwatch and North Staffs Voluntary Sector Chief Officers' Group and a board member for North Staffs Forum of Faiths and Staffordshire Integrated Offender Management Board.

He sums up his raison d'etre simply: "Home is where the heart is, and this is both my home and my heart. How do we change the city? We do it one life at a time and we do it together."

Robert Mountford, Ian Dudson (Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire), Lord Mayor (Cllr Shelia Pitt), Lloyd Cooke and Rob Flello MP.

Of his influence in the city, one of his employees Tim Lucas observed that church, council and other leaders all know him, listen to him and will often act upon his advice.

His long-standing working partner, Robert Mountford, says that the reason for this is: "He's been here longer than most of the people in this situation. He knows, he understands and he networks. He can talk today, he can talk tomorrow, but equally he can remember three bishops ago, or four mayors ago. He can remember back through every aspect of city life in the long term."

Having seen success with different initiatives locally, Lloyd's influence is now beginning to increase outside of the city. The first Faith Action Audit for Stoke-on-Trent was undertaken by Saltbox in 2006 and was found to be an effective and valuable tool to measure the social impact and economic value of what faith groups contribute to the community. So last year, using the Stoke model as a benchmark, the Cinnamon Network rolled out Faith Action Audits nationally, presenting the positive results to Government.

This year will see another initiative rolled out nationally by the Cinnamon Network, using the work of Saltbox as one of their benchmarks. For the last six years, Civic Prayer Breakfasts have been held at the Kings Hall in the town of Stoke. Welcoming faith and civic leaders together for breakfast, speeches and prayer, it's become a highlight in the city's calendar, building bridges of understanding and peace within the community. Now Civic Prayer Events are being promoted across the country, with the hope that many cities will hold them in the autumn this year.

Lloyd Cooke with Matthew Ellis, PCC at a Civic Prayer Breakfast

At a time where there is increasing pressure in society for faith to become a solely private affair, Lloyd is championing a very different approach: "As a Christian, I think there's no such thing as a private faith. It seems to me, if I'm going to love my neighbour, it's a public thing. That means I have to care for people and care for the needy. I was speaking at a church recently and someone said to me, 'Do you think faith and politics mix?' I said, absolutely they do, every time you read the Bible, it's not about faith that's hidden away in a church or spiritual building, it's about a faith that changes the world and makes life better."

As Lloyd ventures beyond the boundaries of Stoke, he is perhaps beginning to change some of his "Hobbit" ways. Recognising similarities between Hobbits and the people of Stoke-on-Trent he says they are: "Friendly, easy going & unassuming, but parochial and generally unambitious & mistrusting of folk from 'the big world'."

Lloyd has perhaps changed so much, that speaking with those around him who know him best, his worst fault was said to be that "he's too trusting of people". Hardly a strong criticism and in fact it was something that Tim saw as a strength: "He's very clear and direct in terms of what he wants but he's also very trusting in terms of just allowing people to do what they do best as well. It's a lot more working together than driving from the front."

For Lloyd he feels that: "We all have to make a difference somewhere and for some people, that might be London or New York, but why not Stoke-on-Trent?"

As someone who looks to change the city through building bridges of partnership and with the cities motto being, 'United Strength Is Stronger", he's definitely in the right place.