Thank you to everyone who observed the stay at home and social distancing guidelines over the weekend ? our streets and parks were much quieter than normal and overwhelmingly people who were out were sensible. With the warmer weather and Easter approaching it is vitally important that we do not drop our guard against this highly contagious virus. Staying at home really does save lives.

Carers across the city are providing a vital lifeline for many of our most vulnerable people and we are still urgently seeking staff. The more we can look after people in their own homes rather than in hospital, the more the NHS can focus on saving lives. We have a number of opportunities for those looking to give something back during this time.

• You will be fully paid
• You will be trained ? no previous experience is necessary, just a desire to care for others
• Your DBS check will be paid for
• We will support your application; interviews will be carried out by phone
• Work will be assigned close to your home
• You will be designated ?critical worker? status
• Personal protective equipment will be provided when needed

Whether you are thinking about returning to the sector or starting a new career you can find more information and how to apply here Nottingham City Council Social Care Jobs

We recognise that this is a time of great anxiety for local businesses and their employees and we are developing a range of support measures to assist our them. A key priority of ours is to ensure that businesses can access the financial support they are entitled to from Central Government. I am pleased to hear that we have now received our allocation of business support funding from central Government and we can now start to distribute this to local businesses affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. We have received around a thousand applications already for the business support grant, to start an application we will need local businesses to send us some brief details through the e-form below.

Access the application e-form here

Find out more about support available to local businesses

I know that many keen gardeners across the city, myself included, are using this time to carry out jobs in the garden, which can create a large amount of garden waste. While the garden waste ?collections are on hold, why not consider home composting as much of your garden waste as possible?? Recycle Now provides information on how to create your own home compost. If you do not have a home composter, simply store garden waste in a neat heap in the corner of your garden, and turn it weekly to keep it aerated.

Please bear with us over this unprecedented time. Garden waste is not hazardous and we have had to prioritise our resources on the collection of essential general waste and recycling.