THE SEARCH is on to find our Streets Ahead stars for 2018.

It is time to say thank you to everyone who has gone the extra mile for their community.

Hosted by Glasgow City Council at the People’s Palace Winter Gardens and supported by our other partners Scottish Fire and Rescue, City Building and City Charitable Trust, the Streets Ahead awards celebrate all the hardworking groups and individuals brightening up their neighbourhoods.

Our campaign, now in its seventh year, continues to go from strength to strength, with more groups than ever before backing our efforts to improve Glasgow, one street at a time.

The ceremony will be on June 19, and we want to hear who you think should be there.

One of last year’s big winners was Hayburn Play Park Association, which triumphed in the Best Clean Up Campaign category.

Formed by a group of Partickhill residents keen to revamp their neglected local park, the association transformed the space into a green space which has become the heart of the community.

As well as an amphitheatre, play park, willow maze, boules area and bike track, the park includes a football pitch and orchard, and it brings old and young together for a raft of community activities.

Chairperson Shireen Taylor explains: “Since winning our Streets Ahead award, we have had a very busy 12 months.

“It’s been nice, now that the major works are all done, to concentrate on the community-oriented events and activities as that’s what it’s all been about.”

As well as planting days and seasonal events, the association has organised arts workshops and community get-togethers.

“We’re hoping to run a befriending project with local care homes and to work with the local secondary school on environmental awareness and citizenship,” says Shireen.

“There is a lot of work to do – the willow maze grows like crazy, for example, and we have to keep on top of litter and planting and so on, but it’s great to see the space become a community hub.”

She adds: “Winning a Streets Ahead award meant a great deal to us. I think there are a lot of assumptions about a space like ours – that it’s all done by the council, or it just somehow happens. The awards helped show there is a body of local people behind it, who invest a lot of time and effort into it, and that was really good for us.”

To nominate yourself or someone else, visit the dedicated awards website at newsquestscotlandevents.com/streetsahead

You can also email lyndsay.wilson@heraldandtimes.co.uk or call 0141 302 7407.

We will be awarding eight prizes, including an overall winner, to be announced at a special ceremony on June 19.

There will be trophies for the best garden, best clean-up campaign, best environmental initiative, best community garden, best community initiative and best business initiative, plus a schools award.

The best garden prize will be presented to the best residential garden. We are looking for gardens which are attractive and wellkept, which improve the appearance of the local area.

The clean-up campaign category celebrates the best clean-up initiatives taking place across the city. We want to hear from people who have come together to tidy up their local area, whether it’s a street, gardens, allotments or even a park.

The Best Environmental Initiative Award will be presented to city’s best “green” project, whether it’s a recycling scheme, a road safety initiative or something completely different, while for the best community garden category, we will be looking for gardens which are used by the whole community.

The winner of the best community initiative category will be an exceptional example of a project which encourages people to work together, which has gone the extra mile to make a real difference to people’s lives.

The Green Glasgow Business Award will be presented to the company, large or small, which has played its part in keeping Glasgow clean and green and the schools award will be given to a nursery, primary, secondary or assisted support for learning school which can demonstrate what contribution it has made to its local community.

The overall winner will be chosen from the winners of all the other categories.

Evening Times Editor Donald Martin said: “For seven fantastic years, Streets Ahead has brought people together in all corners of the city.

“Our campaign, with the generous support of our partners, has helped fund projects that make life better for all.

“Now it’s time to reward them at our annual celebration. We are all looking forward to receiving nominations for each category and to welcoming the finalists along to the awards night in June.”

Look out for more inspiring Streets Ahead supporters in tomorrow’s newspaper and online at www.eveningtimes.co.uk

Closing date for entries is May 3.