Measures to combat the coronavirus are becoming a way of life in the city and will continue for some weeks and months. It is an uncertain time for our local businesses and the council is working hard to support them over this period. We have increased the number of staff working in our Business Support team and they are on hand to offer advice, guidance and help to access grants, loans and relief. We have updated our guidance for Nottingham businesses and included a helpful frequently asked questions section.

Visit?www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/information-for-business
Call 0333 006 9178
Email [email protected]

Some of us will find that self-isolating means that we need to ask for help, perhaps for the first time. Our Customer Hub number is for anyone that is self-isolating with no one to call upon to help with things like shopping or picking up medication. The Customer Hub is staffed Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm, 0115 915 5555, please do call if you or someone you know needs our help.

For those who are seeking to help others, you can join our volunteers ? sign up with our Customer Hub on the number above or donate to our fund?www.robinhoodfund.org. A huge thank you to those that have already donated, over ?25K has been raised so far for local charities and foodbanks.

And finally, I really do appreciate how difficult it is for us all to stay home. There are people, hobbies and jobs that we are all really keen to be seeing and getting on with. However, the responsible actions that Nottingham people have taken, especially over the last two weeks, are really starting to show. The country?s main objective over this time is to protect the NHS and I thank Nottingham for doing this. The next few weeks will be the critical period and by adhering to social distancing and regular hand washing, we really can make a difference and save lives.

I encourage everyone that can to take part in this?Thursday?s clap for our carers?and show our local carers working in the NHS and social care how much we appreciate them. If you are on social media tag in the My Nottingham channels @MyNottingham on Twitter and MyNottingham on Facebook so we can celebrate our local heroes with you.