I hope all readers are enjoying the festive season and are looking forward to the New Year ahead.

In my mind, there is no doubt that it will be a better year than the past one. The new vaccines will be distributed as fast as can be organised and each dose administered will reduce the pressure on the NHS and on society as a whole. The dark days behind when we had to keep socially distant and weren’t able to meet with close family, loved ones and friends, will soon be replaced by brighter and warmer days ahead.

It is important for us all to be confident in our futures. The City Council continues to demonstrate that, with our continuing investment in the City centre. Work on Kings Square has been taking place for some months and is targeted for completion next autumn. In the coming months we hope that planning applications will be passed for the wider work in Kings Quarter, ultimately leading to new retail and residential accommodation, as well as 125,000 square feet of grade A office space, a gym and a 4* hotel. Work will shortly be beginning to improve the railway station and its surrounds.

Festivals, events, culture and sport will all be back on the agenda

As we return to normality, the city’s festivals and events should be increasingly safely deliverable. We can look forward to Tall Ships in late spring, and Gloucester Goes Retro in late summer, as well as a host of other retail events, such as the Food Market and Victorian Market. Cultural offerings will also be more readily available and performance art more easy to attend. Sporting events will also again be accessible – Gloucester Rugby at Kingsholm and Gloucester City AFC at New Meadow Park will once more be places we can go and cheer for the teams we support.

Now is the time to recognise that the sacrifices everyone has made over the past 9-10 months have not been for nothing. We are now close to the end of this awful time and have only a few months to endure before the pandemic is behind us. We need to keep safe for that short time and to do that we need to keep our discipline. Hands, Face, Space to benefit us all.

So I take pleasure in wishing all who read this a healthy and happy new year.