Every one of us lucky enough to live in this fabulous city is a winner

Nominations for the 2024 Edinburgh Award are now open. It’s your chance to put forward the person you think has made a positive impact on the city and gained national and international recognition for Edinburgh.

The criteria for the award is straightforward. The recipient must have been born in Edinburgh, and have lived in the city for the past 12 months or have a substantial association with the Capital. They cannot be a serving politician, nor a previous recipient of the award. Sir Ian Rankin was the first winner back in 2007, and since then a range of elite sports people, scientists and artists, from JK Rowling to the late Doddie Weir, have picked up a commemorative Loving Cup and had their hand print preserved for posterity in the quadrangle outside the City Chambers.

So who should win this year? Frankly, I don’t have an opinion. The people I would want to nominate, such as Joanna Cherry MP, are either ruled out because of their job, or in the case of the feminist organisation For Women Scotland, don’t qualify because they are a group made up of three fantastic women, two of whom are from Edinburgh.

No doubt there will be lots of names put forward. Lord Provost Robert Aldridge is rightly keen that we celebrate an individual who “makes Edinburgh the inspiring city we see today,” so that offers plenty of scope, from leading business people to community activists or top chefs like Tom Kitchin and Martin Wishart who were at the forefront of Edinburgh’s transformation from a mediocre city for eating out to world-beating.

What about Irvine Welsh? A controversial choice perhaps, but his first (and best) novel Trainspotting is a seminal piece of fiction that gave a voice to a side of the city so often ignored.

But whoever receives the 2024 accolade, one thing is certain. Despite the city’s many challenges, from the housing emergency to the terrible traffic, every one of us lucky enough to live in this fabulous city is a winner.