Do you know an unsung hero? Well The Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Councillor Jackie Morris, is looking for nominations for people who volunteer and do things on a daily basis to make a positive difference to their local community.

The awards are open to volunteers from across Nottingham and The Lord Mayor is encouraging members of the public to give their nominations to their local councillors.

Awards will be given in the following three categories:

Young Volunteer Award – Young people across the city help to improve their local communities by volunteering. This award acknowledges the important efforts people under 25 make to improve their local communities by getting involved in making it a better place to live.

Good Neighbour Award – Volunteering can be informal, like helping out your neighbours. These small acts can make a huge impact in our communities, and improve community spirit. This award recognises the people whose efforts are largely informal and very local, but who have had a significant positive impact on the lives of others.

Long Serving Volunteer Award – This award recognises people who have been helping others over a long period of time; it celebrates their ongoing commitment to their community.

As well as these three categories there will be an ‘Employer Award’, which recognises businesses that encourage volunteering, and the Lord Mayor’s Award, which recognises an outstanding individual chosen specifically by the Lord Mayor for the contribution they have made.

To nominate somebody you can fill in this online form – www.surveymonkey.com/r/LordMayorsVolunteerAwards or you can visit www.nottinghamcvs.co.uk/LordMayorsVolunteerAwards

This online form will be sent to the councillors who represent the ward the person lives or volunteers in for consideration. Winners and runners up will be announced at a special awards ceremony in April.

Nominations entry closes Friday 19 February 2016.

Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Councillor Jackie Morris, said: “Each year, thousands of Nottingham residents take the time out of their busy schedules to volunteer, be that helping a neighbour or helping an organisation, they contribute to making our city a great community.

“These are awards are for local people who have made a positive difference in their neighbourhood and their efforts should be recognised. It’s for this reason that I would like to encourage residents to nominate the outstanding volunteers in our community.”

The awards are being organised jointly by Nottingham City Council and Nottingham Community and Voluntary service (NCVS). They are linked to the Looking After Each Other programme, which is about bringing people and communities across Nottingham together. Looking After Each Other is led in partnership by Nottingham City Council, Nottingham City Clinical Commissioning Group and NCVS.