AN SNP councillor is celebrating after being named Urban Community Champion for 2019 at a national awards ceremony.

Ayr East Cllr Chris Cullen said he felt proud and privileged to pick up the prize at the 2019 Councillor Awards.

The Councillor Awards, run by LGiU Scotland and CCLA, is the only national awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of individual councillors across Scotland with winners unveiled last week at the Edinburgh City Chambers.

The SNP member is recognised for having been very active in supporting his community, in raising awareness and for rolling up his sleeves to help with litter picking, burn clearance, woodland path construction and helping out various groups with projects across the district.

He spends time attending local events and celebrations bringing the community together, and is committed to personally helping out any constituents he can.

Cllr Cullen said: “I’m proud and privileged receiving my award tonight as Urban Community Councillor after being shortlisted to the final four and chosen as the winner in the category.

“Thank you to those who nominated me for both this category and Environmental Impact category.”

This year marks the second year that the Awards have been showcasing the achievements of councillors across Scotland. Competition was extremely tight again this year with nearly 100 nominations received, a record amount for the Awards.

The winners were selected by a group of judges made up of local government experts and councillors.

Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, LGiU said: “I would like to extend my most sincere congratulations to Cllr Cullen and thank him for his commitment to local government.

“We look forward to hearing more about his continued accomplishments in the future.”