Lots of people will be remembering the Queen?s visits to Nottingham during her long reign.

She first visited in her Coronation year, 1953, when one of many events to mark the occasion was a carnival procession through the city centre. Street parties took place in Nottingham as they have throughout the country to mark significant Royal celebrations ever since 'Peace Teas' were introduced as a treat for poor and orphaned children after World War One.

Queen Elizabeth also opened The Queen?s Medical Centre and the University of Nottingham?s Jubilee campus, visited famous Nottingham industries of bicycle and lace manufacturing, met local cricket and skating legends, Derek Randal and Torvill and Dean, and inspected Nottinghamshire-based military regiments. She visited Nottingham for three Jubilees - Silver in 1977, Gold in 2002 and Diamond in 2012, her last visit to Nottingham. On that occasion she was accompanied by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and was greeted by an estimated crowd of 20,000 people in Old Market Square and surrounding streets.

You can take a look at these and other occasions when The Queen came to Nottingham, along with accompanying images, here.

Books of Condolence remain open at the Council House, Loxley House and Dales, Clifton and Bulwell Riverside libraries, as well as online. Flowers can also still be laid on the Council House steps. More information here

Many council services will not be running on Monday (19 September ) which has been declared a national bank holiday to mark the occasion of Queen Elizabeth?s funeral.

Council offices, schools, libraries, leisure centres, the register office and the household waste recycling centre are among the services that will be closed on Monday. Wollaton Hall and Newstead Abbey will also be closed but the grounds will be open for normal bank holiday times.

Anyone whose bins are normally collected on Monday should put them out this Saturday, when they will be collected instead.

For full details of affected services, please visit https://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/servicechanges

The Covid-19 booster jab programme continues to roll out to more people this week to help them top up their protection ahead of winter. The following people can now book their booster:

• People aged 65 or over
• Frontline health and social care workers
• Pregnant women
• Carers
• People with weakened immune systems and those who live with them.

In the coming weeks, people aged 50 and over will be able to book too. Don?t forget, it?s not too late to get a first jab for everyone aged over five. Covid is still present in our country and we want to make sure everyone is as protected as they can be this winter.

In Nottingham, vaccinations are taking place at the The Courtaulds Building, 292 Haydn Road, Nottingham, NG5 1EB ? as well as in pharmacies. You can see the full list of locations here.

The NHS has told us that the Covid-19 Vaccination Programme will seek to honour pre-booked appointments on Monday 19 September, the day of The Queen?s funeral. If a vaccination site does decide to close due to very low numbers of booked appointments, all people booked in will be contacted to rearrange their appointment.

You can book an appointment by calling 119 or visiting the national booking website.

I?ve found that many of the people I meet around the city don?t know that benefits are not just for those who aren?t working. As the Cost of Living crisis worsens, it?s important to check what you should be getting ? it?s easy and quick to do with this ten minute benefit checker: https://moneysavingexpert.entitledto.co.uk/home/start

More than ?15bn of benefits goes unclaimed every year, so ahead of a difficult winter for most people, do take the time to make sure you?re getting what you should be.

• It?s believed millions nationwide aren?t claiming Council Tax support ? which helps those on a low income by reducing the amount of Council Tax they have to pay
• Over half a million families are missing out on claiming Child Benefit (?21.80 a week for the first child, ?14.45 for subsequent children.)

Don?t miss out on what you are entitled to receive!