Celebrate our county and its unsung heroes on Gloucestershire Day

A special day is being organised to publicly thank the people who have gone above and beyond their normal duty in Gloucestershire during the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘Gloucestershire Day’ will also be an opportunity to celebrate the spirit and strength of our communities and to nominate someone who lives or works in the county who has helped you during the crisis.

It will be held on Monday 21 September to coincide with World Appreciation Day and there are plans to make it an annual event.

To celebrate the county and its response and recovery from Covid-19, we want to promote everything that is great about Gloucestershire – the districts, businesses, areas of interest and hidden treasures that make it such a wonderful place to live and work.

Ways to mark the day include:

·    Posting photos of your favourite place or county view on social media with the hashtag #GlosDay

·    Displaying the Gloucestershire flag in windows – there’s printable one to colour in on our website

·    Adding a frame to your Facebook profile photo – search GlosDay on frames to find it (available now)

·    Using one of the GlosDay filters on Instagram (available on 21 September)

We are asking people to be as creative as they like to show what makes Gloucestershire special to them – whether it’s making, creating or painting something – and to share it with us.

Additionally, we are asking young songwriters across the county to write a song which will become this year’s Gloucestershire Day theme song. Tracks can be submitted as a video on social media with the hashtags #GlosDay #GlosSong, or by emailing an mp3 to communications@gloucestershire.gov.uk with the subject line “GlosSong submission”.

To nominate a Covid-19 Community Hero:

·    Send us a photo of the person (with their permission) and say how they have helped you. Please include your name and the area where you live.

·    To do this, you can either send us a direct message on social media using the hashtags #thisis and #gloscommunity or email the photo and a line of text to communications@gloucestershire.gov.uk and we’ll do the rest. Please include ‘Glosday nomination’ in the subject line.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said: “Our communities have really come together during Covid-19, showing incredible spirit and resolve to help each other through this crisis.

“We thought a Gloucestershire Day would be a fantastic way to publicly thank our unsung heroes who have provided support to others, as well as promote everything that is great about our amazing county.

“You can get involved however you like – through social media, by painting or designing something or putting a Gloucestershire flag in your window, it’s up to you. We hope everyone will join in the celebrations for this special day.”