A BORDERS councillor was congratulated at an awards ceremony for his efforts to create a resilience group in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Euan Jardine, who represents Galashiels and District for the Conservatives, was given the LGIU Scotland Councillor Award for Resilience and Recovery at a ceremony in Glasgow last week.

Mr Jardine was recognised for his work to set up the COVID-19 resilience group in the town last year, which went on to help hundreds of people during the pandemic.

Upon receiving his award, he was asked what the new normal post-coronavirus will be like.

He said: “I think the priority is just getting the confidence back, people getting their confidence back and knowing that the councils are doing what they can, the government’s doing what they can to help people get back to normal.

“I think hard working councillors throughout the country are trying to establish schemes, plans, and I know with the budget coming up I think there will be a lot of people coming together with different plans just to make sure that actually we’re looking at the people first, we’re building back communities.

“And one thing I’ve noticed when I was setting up the resilience team was nobody was talking to each other, and I think it’s important to get people to talk to each other.

“If we can get people together, create an umbrella so to speak where everyone is working under it, I think that helps us when it rains, if we’ve got that umbrella we’ll be able to protect everybody.”

Tweeddale West councillor Kris Chapman, of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, was highly commended at the fourth annual awards in the New Councillor of the Year category. The award was won by councillor Jackie McCamon from Dumfries and Galloway Council.

Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of LGIU Scotland, said: “We are incredibly proud to unveil the winners of this year’s Councillor Awards.

“These councillors showcase the best of local government across Scotland.

“During a time when our communities have experienced unprecedented challenges and pressures, these councillors are paving the way towards recovery.

“I would like to extend a huge congratulations to councillor Jardine and all of tonight’s Councillor Awards winners.

“We thank you for your service and look forward to hearing about your continued accomplishments in the future.”