We?ve launched an innovative new project to help tackle hunger in the city. Working with FareShare Midlands, we?re going to be using the kitchen at our City Council HQ, Loxley House, to make meals and deliver them direct to local charities and organisations who are tackling hunger and the cost of living crisis.

Sainsbury?s are kindly funding the project, which will see two chefs and a team of volunteers devising healthy meals with the ingredients, and FareShare Midlands distributing the meals to community groups, including social eating spaces, community groceries and homeless shelters.

In full production the project will provide 13,000 meals per month, using up 5,460kg of surplus food. It?s a win-win solution to help tackle hunger, climate change and also train volunteers with catering skills. I?d like to thank our council team Nottingham Catering, FareShare and Sainsbury?s.

Find out more

In 2021, we successfully bid for ?18million from the Government?s Levelling Up fund to improve streets and local town centres, and make walking and cycling easier and safer. We've now approved ?11million of that to go to our Streets for People programme.

The money will be split between each ward, with areas most in need of improvements getting more funding. Our transport teams will be:

• Upgrading pavements and walkways to make them safer, especially taking into consideration the needs of older people and those with less mobility
• Repairs to roads and cycle paths to help us improve traffic flow and safety across the city
• Adding cycle paths and other cycling infrastructure to help cyclists get around safely and quickly and encourage more people to choose cycling for short journeys
• Adding green spaces and trees, making our neighbourhoods nicer places to be for people and pollinators
• Using local people and businesses as much as possible to do this work, making sure much of the money being invested stays in the local economy benefiting Nottingham people.

As we develop a plan for exactly what improvements we?ll make in your neighbourhood, we?ll keep you updated with what?s happening and when. Find out more

In November last year we passed a motion at full council calling for more to be done to address the impact that unaffordable childcare has on Nottingham families, and particularly women in the workplace. The motion committed us to working with partners across the city to help local families, raising awareness of the issues and to lobby the Government for national policy change.

One of our partners, Nottingham Women?s Centre, are conducting a survey to ensure that the voices of local women are heard. If you have experience of accessing childcare in Nottingham, they want to hear from you. You can tell them about your experiences in the following ways:

• Click here to fill out the online survey.
• Click here to sign up for the next listening circle, which will be running online on 2nd August 2022. In-person sessions will be arranged at a later date.
• If you?d to arrange an interview over the phone, please contact the Policy and Influencing Officer Ezinwanne on [email protected].

Visit www.nottinghamwomenscentre.com/news/share-your-experiences-of-childcare-and-work-in-nottingham to find out more about their work on the issue.

? If you?re currently looking for help navigating the support available for you and your child, Nottingham City Council?s Families Information Service is there for you. They provide free information and advice to parents and carers in Nottingham. You can find information on the AskLion website, call 0800 458 4114 (Freephone, available Monday to Friday) or email: [email protected]. ?

As the cost of living crisis worsens and people become more desperate, scammers are targeting Nottingham people with texts and emails.

The latest scams involve fake cost of living payments, with scammers pretending to be from the DWP and asking for bank details.

I would like to ask you to speak to older or more vulnerable friends and relatives about these scams, especially those who live alone and remember ? never text your bank account details to anyone. DWP and other organisations will never ask for personal details by text or email.