About
About Six Towns Daily
Free, ad-free local news for Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. No paywalls, no pop-ups, no sponsored content. Just honest local journalism.
What we do
Six Towns Daily is an independent local news platform covering Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. We publish community news, sport, events, crime updates, transport information, and everything else that matters to people living in the Potteries and North Staffordshire.
We believe local news should be accessible to everyone, not locked behind paywalls or buried under advertising. That's why we're completely free to read and completely ad-free. No pop-ups, no cookie banners asking you to accept tracking, no sponsored articles disguised as journalism.
Who we are
Six Towns Daily is founded and operated by Martin Pitchford, a local resident with a straightforward goal: give the six towns a news source they can trust.
Right now, we're operating as an independent sole trader. This keeps overheads practically at zero and lets us react instantly to local breaking news without layers of bureaucracy or commercial pressures. However, with over 5,000 views in our first four days, we're already looking at formalising into a corporate structure to handle our rapid growth.
The core platform is managed by Martin, supported by a network of local self-employed contributors and community volunteers who supply content. This keeps our news hyper-local, authentic, and fast. If something happens on your street, we want to know about it before anyone else.
Why ad-free?
We are strictly ad-free and paywall-free. This isn't a temporary launch strategy - it's a permanent commitment.
Our early traffic proved the demand: local people trust us because we aren't clogging their screens with pop-ups, and our editorial voice isn't bought by commercial interests. No advertiser will ever influence what we publish or how we publish it.
This means we don't answer to corporations or media groups. We answer to you - the people of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.
How we're funded
The only financial support we receive comes from readers like you - if you choose to make an optional contribution. There is absolutely no obligation, and you will never see reduced content or locked articles if you don't contribute.
Every penny goes directly toward keeping the site running: hosting, domain costs, and eventually paying local contributors for their time. There are no shareholders, no investors, and no advertising revenue. Just readers who believe local news matters.
Total funding to date
We believe in full transparency. Here's exactly what we've received.
Last updated: August 2026. We update this figure regularly to keep things honest.
Support Six Towns Daily
If you value what we do, you can buy us a coffee. It's a one-off payment of any amount you choose - there's no subscription, no recurring charge, and no sign-up required.
How it works: Click the button above and you'll be taken to our Buy Me a Coffee page. Choose any amount (from as little as a couple of pounds), pay securely by card or Apple Pay, and that's it. No account needed, no recurring charges unless you specifically opt in. Your name can appear on our supporters wall, or you can contribute anonymously.
Our principles
- Free forever. Every article, every update, available to everyone.
- Ad-free forever. No banners, no sponsored posts, no tracking pixels.
- Community first. We cover what matters to local people, not what generates clicks.
- Independent. No media group ownership, no corporate interests.
- Transparent. We tell you exactly how we operate and where the money goes.
Get in touch
Got a story? Want to contribute? Just want to say hello? We'd love to hear from you.
