Chair of Alsager Town Council and town councillor for East Ward, Michael Unett has heaped praise on the town's community spirit during the last year in his Christmas message.

He says it's the town's "kindness" which makes Alsager such an amazing place and he has also praised the NHS, emergency workers, care staff, front line workers, retail and hospitality staff for their hard work during Covid.

Writing a Christmas message to the people of Alsager, Cllr Unett said: "As we move into the festive season and towards a brand new year, I hope that everyone will have a much better Christmas than that of last year.

"I hope that this Christmas we will all be able to reflect on this year, how far we have come and how far we have to go.

"We have all managed to live through another year with the Coronavirus, with this year being better than

2020 – having come out of the most serious restrictions, being able to see family again, return to work or school again and coming back together as a community again. "But while this has managed to take place, we must remember that this pandemic is not over and we may still have to live with Coronavirus for some time but there is hope. "It has been in these most trying times during the pandemic and as we come out of it, that I have seen and heard of so many acts of kindness and selflessness to help others across the area – so many people getting involved, showing the very best of community spirit in our town. "It is that spirit that gives me hope for the coming year, just has it has given hope and a life line to others this past year. "As we move into the festive period, we must continue to look out for each other, our family, our friends, our neighbours, our colleagues and our community. "It is behind this kindness and volunteering where the true heart of Alsager resides. "I would like to pay tribute to thank all the volunteers at the Alsager Community Support Centre and all those behind all of our other fantastic groups in our town too and thank them for everything that they do. "I also want to thank and pay tribute to our fantastic NHS workers, emergency workers, care staff, front line workers, retail and hospitality staff who have gone above and beyond, and will do again this festive season. "And I would like to thank each and every person in our town for making Alsager the brilliant community that it is. "Let us continue to help each other, be kind to one another and together make this coming New Year even better than the last. "On behalf of Alsager Town Council, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year."