Thank you to all the amazing people keeping Edinburgh going – Cammy Day

Cammy Day puts politics aside at a time when the city is coming together to provide care and support in the midst of the pandemic

Edinburgh residents are looking out for and supporting each other

I won’t use this article for political purposes; it’s not the time for that. The city is coming together and, whatever you do, wherever you’re from, this is the time to work together.

I wanted to put on record our sincere gratitude and thanks to everyone who is helping to keep the city going, caring for those in need in our care homes and across our communities, providing essential food and supplies and generally looking out for and supporting one another.

Council staff, primarily working remotely, have been working tirelessly to deliver on the policies and packages agreed by the UK and Scottish governments – for example, ensuring grants to the community and voluntary sectors are processed to sustain their immense local support networks to function as well as they can.

Cammy Day is the Labour group leader at Edinburgh City Council (Picture: Ian Georgeson)

Last week saw the roll out of Edinburgh’s £1.65 million share of the Scottish Government’s Food Fund delivering school meal funding, food packages to those in need and a hot meals service to older and vulnerable people.

Meanwhile, a dedicated team of 100 council staff are making fantastic progress in processing Business Grants to help support small businesses through these extraordinarily difficult times. Over 90 per cent of the 6,000-plus applications received so far have now been processed, paying out over £50m in the process.

As we move towards our city’s recovery, we’ll all have an important part to play in supporting our local businesses and industries in the months ahead – continuing to shop local wherever we can and, given we’re unlikely to be able to travel far, enjoying the many wonderful sites and attractions right here on our doorstep. I hope, for many, this could be the perfect opportunity to rediscover our beautiful city centre – and beyond.

I also hope in the coming weeks that we’ll see big business stepping up – I’m calling on the multitude of national and multinational companies based here in Edinburgh to dig deep and help provide the right level of support to the city, and its people, in its time of need.

There has been a lot of coverage across the county on the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and I want to take this opportunity to reassure our residents that we continue to provide PPE in line with national guidance. With over 500,000 items in stock and nearly two million items on order, we’re confident of being able to protect our staff as they continue to deliver essential frontline services.

It’s also been an opportunity for many of our staff to take advantage of practical online learning, and, thanks to colleagues who’ve developed an effective interactive tool, it’s easier to ensure relevant staff are fully up to speed with best practice during these challenging times. I know our trade union colleagues are hugely supportive of this approach and we’re looking to roll this out more widely across our teams.

I want to end by celebrating the community response to this crisis – and to thank you, the residents of Edinburgh, for your patience and support as we do our very best to continue delivering services and supporting those most in need of our help.

In every corner, in every community, people are being good neighbours, shopping for those unable to do so, helping with dog walking, or even just a quick call to check they’re okay. I genuinely hope this is one of the changes our city can continue with as we recover. Please keep Clapping for Carers, looking after your neighbours and singing with Captain Tom!

And please keep safe and well.

Cammy Day is the Labour group leader at Edinburgh City Council