I was really pleased to see us pick up a prestigious national award this week highlighting our partnership working.

An environmental project between Gedling Borough Council, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire's borough councils won the Best Collaborative Working Initiative category at yesterday?s Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Awards.

The Green Rewards programme incentivises residents from across the county to take action to reduce their carbon emissions by offering monthly prizes. As of May 2023, more than 155,000 actions had been recorded in Green Rewards by more than 6,600 members. Sign up here to Green Rewards start collecting your green points.?

The Council was also in the frame in two other categories: ?Frontline Services Team of the Year: Parks, Grounds & Horticultural? and ?Best Climate Action or Decarbonisation initiative? for work supporting the city?s ambition to be carbon-neutral by 2028.

Competition in both sections was really strong and while we didn?t win either of these awards on this occasion, I?m proud that the efforts of officers and councillors was recognised. We are routinely nominated in these awards and last year we landed the APSE Award for Best Service Team for Street Cleansing and Streetscene Services.?

The St Ann?s Well Road scheme is progressing well and several sections of segregated cycle lane are already open for you to use.

Our teams continue working on other areas, progressing the cycle lane towards the city centre. We expect the scheme to be completed by summer 2024.?

This project is funded by the Active Travel Fund and aims to get help more people cycle safely to school, the shops or other local journeys.

Read more here?

A Harvest Festival takes place tomorrow (Saturday) at the Forest Recreation Ground.

There will be a large harvest collection for local food charities, as well as lots of activities for all ages including headdress making, apple bobbing, wildlife workshops, food demonstrations, talks, performances and lots more.

Entry is free and the event is open from 10am to 4pm.

It was thrilling to see Nottingham cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason playing at the Last Night of the Proms last Saturday ? apparently playing an instrument made in Venice during the 1700s.

The former Trinity School pupil, an internationally-acclaimed musician from such a talented musical family, is a joy to watch and we?re so proud of him. Anyone who missed his Proms performance can catch it on the BBC iPlayer here from around 24 minutes in.

Wishing a happy Rosh Hashanah to everyone celebrating in Nottingham. Sending warm wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year ? Shana Tova!