Nottingham Labour wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.
The festive season is a time for people to get together with their loved ones and reflect on the past year and celebrate their communities and the coming year. This will be the first Christmas since covid when families can once again get together in person to celebrate. While 2022 has been a positive year in Nottingham, with joyous events like Forest getting promoted back to the premier league, the return of the Winter Wonderland and international cricket at Trent Bridge, it has been mixed with disappointing news such as the closure of the Castle.
It has also been a hard year for many Nottingham residents. Following 12 years of austerity, the nation is in the midst of a cost of living crisis, food and energy prices have soared and inflation continues to rise. Times are difficult for many.
Labour-led Nottingham City Council is here to support our residents over this Christmas period and into the new year.
There is a dedicated website – www.asklion.co.uk – that has details of advice and financial services that all residents can access if they are concerned about debt and money.
For those struggling with heating bills, there are many warm hubs in the city offering a place to work and use. Where To Find Money Help & Advice | Ask Lion – Nottingham City Directory.
Continuing this holiday period, £15 per week vouchers have been made available for children who receive free school meals to help struggling families over this festive period. Not only that but a number of outdoor holiday activities are being run again this festive period. At these those receiving free school meals will receive a free lunch as well as activities centred around healthy eating, exercise and mental health. Close to 20,000 children attended these clubs and were fed over the Easter, summer and October half-term holidays.
Free fun and food events are also being run throughout the city, and for those who need it there will be local food banks running during the holidays. Details can be found at: https://www.asklion.co.uk/kb5/nottingham/directory/site.page?id=D6qGLJyjZOU
It is to the great shame of the current government that we are having to advertise these services during the festive season. 12 years of misrule compounded by the madcap budget of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng has wreaked financial havoc on so many people. But the City Council is here to work with partners across Nottingham to continue to support those residents in need through this period as we have done all year.
We should all be grateful for the work of our council staff who make our city safe, clean and a great place to grow up and grow old in. We will all be thinking this week too of those key workers taking industrial action for better pay and conditions. Claps don’t pay bills and we urge the government to get around the table and fix these issues for the new year. Our NHS, the jewel in the crown of our welfare state, is in tatters. We need a Labour government to restore its ability to support people to live in good health, free when you need it, staff decently paid, treated well – and once again the pride of Britain.