Well today is the first time that we're running the award ceremony for our Service Excellence Awards for the whole of SCTS.

We've had 114 nominations from across the country, which is fantastic, and the finalists are coming together today so that we can understand what it is that lies behind the fantastic work that they've done and celebrate and say thank you.

And it's important for everybody that's coming today but it's also important that we can showcase this to the rest of the organisation and celebrate the Values and Behaviours that come through in all of that work that is being recognised today.

We are leading, supporting justice across all the local communities of Scotland and the nominations and the finalists today represent the best of what's happening across the whole of Scotland.

I am Bhavna Nair, Director of Education and Learning Unit and I've had the privilege to lead the development of the SCTS Service Excellence Awards, along with a core working group with representation from across the organisation.

It's wonderful to see that we've got an event with all our finalists, the nominators.

You know, our exec team, our SCTS Board and we've all come together to really celebrate our people who've shown so much dedication and really send the message to say tha what we all do, what you do, makes a difference and everyone's valued.

I feel really proud, the whole day just made me feel really proud to be part of SCTS and have the recognition for the work that not just I do, but we all do.

I feel the award ceremony went really really well today.

It was obviously very, very well organised and it felt lovely to be a part of.

I think it’s been a really great opportunity to network across the organisation to speak to people that we maybe recognise and work with, but don't get to see all the time.

I think that's been a really great opportunity.

I think as an organisation we've not been fantastic at kind of tooting our own horn and say how great we are.

So this experience has been really great to be able to highlight that and embrace that as an organisation.

Today, I think is really important to recognise the efforts of all the staff.

There is an awful lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, like an iceberg, under the bit that we can actually see, that the public never see.

But for us who sit on the bench, we are standing on the shoulders of giants and it's the people of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service who enable all that to happen.

Whether supporting hearings, managing processes, improving systems or assisting those who rely on our services, the work carried out by colleagues across SCTS has a direct and meaningful impact on individuals, communities and public confidence in justice.

I am very pleased to receive the honour and obviously I'm so lucky to have a job that I actually enjoy doing, and I'm happy to come back and do everyday.

We think it's really important that we show this appreciation and say thank you, not just to the finalists today, but everyone that was nominated and everyone across SCTS for all the fantastic hard work that people do day in, day out across the Courts, the Tribunals and the Office of the Public Guardian.