Oliver Coffin

Residents in Lincoln are being reminded to return their voting registration forms to ensure their vote counts.

The general election and City of Lincoln Council local elections will be taking place in May 2015.

Residents across the city that have yet to respond to previous request to register will be receiving reminders inviting them to register, to make sure they don’t miss out on voting.

This year saw the introduction of Individual Elector Registration, making it every individual’s responsibility to ensure they can vote, rather than filling out one form detailing every member of a household.

Steve Swain, Principal Democratic Officer at the city council, said: “A lot of people don’t realise they are not automatically registered to vote when they move into a new area, or wrongly assume they will be registered because they pay council tax.

“We would urge everyone to look out for their reminder letter to make sure they are registered and will be able to exercise their right to vote next year.

“It’s also worth remembering that being registered will help to maintain your credit rating.”

The quickest and easiest way to register is to go online at http://www.gov.uk/yourvotematters

The Mayor of Lincoln’s annual Christmas card competition winner will this year turn on the city’s festival lights with Paralympic medalist Jade Etherington.

Lincoln Mayor, Councillor Brent Charlesworth, has invited primary school pupils to use the theme ‘What does Christmas in Lincoln mean to you?’ to create their card design entries.

Entrants can take part using glitter, paint, crayons or any material to add festive sparkle to their picture.

The winner of the competition will not only see their design printed and sent out across the city, but will also be invited to help switch on the Christmas lights on Thursday, November 20.

Also turning on the lights will be Jade Etherington, three-times winter Paralympic medalist from Lincoln, and the Mayor himself.

The Mayor of Lincoln, Cllr Brent Charlesworth, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for local primary school pupils to try their hand at crafting a Christmas design.

“Not only am I looking forward to judging the competition, I’m also looking forward to being joined by the winner to officially switch on the Christmas Lights.

“The cards that will be sent out with the winning design will support and promote my chosen charities for this year: Lincoln Dial-A-Ride and Development Plus.”

Entries must be submitted before 5pm on Wednesday, November 12 with a completed parental consent form.

Forms can be downloaded online.

All entries must be no bigger than A4 and include the child’s name, age and name of their school on the back of the design.

Entries can be submitted by emailing [email protected] or [email protected]

They can also be posted to Civic Office, City Hall, City of Lincoln Council, Beaumont Fee, Lincoln, LN1 1DD.