Tonight we'll light up our Council House again as we Clap For Carers. We can all join in with our neighbours across the city at 8pm to say a huge thank you to all of our care workers making such a difference during this pandemic. This week sees the start of Foster Care Fortnight and we?ll also be clapping for our amazing foster carers. We are extremely grateful to all those involved in fostering who are providing support and stability to children and young people in this uncertain and challenging time.

Find out more about local fostering opportunities Fostering in Nottingham

This week Government has made tentative steps to easing the restrictions that we all face in our daily lives but I would like to emphasise that the lockdown has not been lifted and social distancing measures are still very much in place.

The main easing of restrictions is around leisure with their being no restriction on how much time we can spend outdoors and some shops and outdoor leisure facilities opening to. Also that we can now meet up with one other person from a different household whilst we are outside, but we must adhere to social distancing guidelines for the duration of time spent together.

It is really important that we all still play our part in stopping the spread of the virus and protecting the NHS and this is best done by staying home as much as we can, working from home if possible and regularly washing our hands.

GOV.UK: full guidance on social distancing

We have had to quickly adapt to the restrictions that this virus has made necessary and that has meant changing or suspending many of our services to keep staff and citizens safe. Services have been quick to respond to the situation and adapt delivery models so we can as far as possible? resume services, albeit it in a different way for some.? I?m really pleased to see that from this week we have been able to start to take bookings for our Bulky Waste service and that from next week we?ll be out collecting up unwanted items and either recycling where possible or disposing of when necessary. I anticipate that there will be a significant demand for this service and it is important that residents only use our Bulky Waste Service when they can no longer store waste safely at home in order to manage demand on the service.

Find out more about the services and any access restrictions: City Council Waste Services