The past few months have been an especially busy time for me with extra political meetings, visits to schools, planting trees, visiting community groups and of course all the preparation for the council budget setting and then the health and social care budget setting meeting.

I’ve also had really important family matters to deal with and sometimes I honestly feel that there aren’t enough hours in the day. I know that busy families with young children and teenagers to care for will be in the same boat but all we can do is keep on rowing forward so that we don’t sink.

As education convener, I was delighted to attend Clydebank High to hear how well the school had done with their Education Scotland inspection where they achieved the highest grade possible for three of the four areas assessed. I was particularly pleased to hear about the fantastic support that the pupils received from the teachers.

I also attended a tree planting session with community volunteers including pupils from Linnvale Primary and Our Holy Redeemer Primary. It was raining and cold but the children were great, they were really enthusiastic and the weather didn’t stop them from doing their task. They excitedly transformed the open space into a new woodland by the time they had finished.

I was recently appointed to serve on Clydebank Town Centre Board and I attended a ministerial engagement to walk through the site. It was a bit of a busman’s holiday walking through the town while we considered how the £20m of levelling up funding from the UK government could help to regenerate our town.

At the council meeting, we approved plans for 128 new homes at Abbotsford Road. This is the former Playdrome site, so it’s great to be able to bring it back into use providing new homes help to regenerate our town.

I’ve also been busy with the cost of living working group where we have been able to help local groups to access funding. We’ve been able to do a lot in helping families and groups across the council area such as free swimming, and gym, family fun days, and giving extra funding to foodbanks to supplement the donations they receive. Since we’ve set it up we have helped Awestruck Academy, Dalmuir Church Drop in Pantry, Clyde Shopmobility, Clydebank Men's Shed, WD Kinship Care, the Recycling Centre, Holm Park Community Football Academy Accessibility Project, and many other community groups. It’s great to see so many people who willingly do so much to help others and it’s great to be able to help them where we can.

I hope you all had a great Easter break and took some time catching up with your families and friends, and for the lucky ones amongst us, maybe even having some time to relax. I will be busy for the next few weeks at the children’s hospital in Edinburgh but I have temporary arrangements in place for constituent enquiries, so if you need to speak to me in person, I will catch you later in the month.