I was pleased to join local residents once again for the monthly Westlea litter pick on Saturday. This time we met with more than a little sadness, due to the sad loss of local community champion, Moya Pinson, who was a driving force for the group.
Moya was an inspirational person and a great friend, she made an incredible contribution to our local community over many years, volunteering for many local organisations including the Livewell Team at Swindon Borough Council, Swindon Neurowellbeing Centre, and Threshold Housing Link, to name just a few.
It was wonderful to see so many residents helping in tribute to Moya on Saturday, and I was glad that I could join them. We will all miss her so much.
I am regularly contacted by local residents about bus services here in South Swindon, so I am looking forward to attending the Swindon Bus Summit this coming Friday and speaking directly with both Swindon Bus Company and Stagecoach.
Several residents have been in touch with me recently to raise concerns about the reliability of the Number 10 Stagecoach service, so the Summit will allow me to discuss these concerns directly with Stagecoach.
I am pleased that to help with the cost-of-living pressures, the Government has stepped in and is subsidising most single bus fares to £2 for a fixed period from 1 Jan – 31 March 2023.
Further details about this can be found on the Swindon Bus Company Website here: https://www.swindonbus.co.uk/single-bus-fares-reduced-ps2 and the Stagecoach website here: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/service-updates/serviceupdatesarticle?SituationId=ID-19/12/2022-09:51:03:027 as well as on the government website here: New Year cheer: £2 bus tickets for thousands of routes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
You may already be aware from reading my previous columns, that over the past five years, I have been running a ‘Campaign to Tackle Loneliness in Swindon’ alongside Swindon Seniors Forum. The aim of this campaign is to bring together key local organisations in and around Swindon to discuss the excellent work that is taking place, as well as discussing what further can be done to tackle loneliness.
The brilliant Livewell Team at Swindon Borough Council are an important part of my campaign, and they work hard to tackle loneliness by running several excellent local initiatives. There are many volunteering opportunities available with the Livewell Team, where you can go along, help out, take part in new activities, and meet new friends. These include with the Swindon Circles Befriending Scheme, which could bring a new friendship into your life, becoming a local hero volunteer and helping with one-off tasks for residents who don’t have any other support, helping out at inclusive cycling sessions, pushing someone in their wheelchair on the ice at the link centre, or supporting local families working to live a healthier life. For bakers and knitters, there are also opportunities available with the Forget me not Cakes and the Swindon Big Knit.
If you are interested in any of the above projects, please contact [email protected] or ring 01793 465513.
This winter poses an extreme challenge for our NHS, which is under enormous pressure as a result of Covid-19 and flu, and on top of that, tackling the backlog caused by the pandemic. This is adversely affecting hospitals across the country, including Great Western Hospital here in Swindon, so I am glad that in a statement to Parliament on Monday, the Health and Social Care Secretary outlined a series of measures to address the current pressures.
Increasing the number of hospital discharges and providing support in other settings, including care homes, to free up hospital beds is crucial, and although Swindon Borough Council has worked hard to improve our discharge rates, there is more to be done, particularly with patients coming from other local authorities, including Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
I am glad that the Health Secretary has taken urgent action, including investing an additional £200 million to enable the NHS to immediately buy up beds in the community to safely discharge thousands of patients from hospital.
As well as helping people right now, we must also look ahead to make our health and care system work better next winter and beyond.
Finally, my local charity of the week is IPSUM Swindon, a mental health and wellbeing centre supporting Swindon and the surrounding area.
This wonderful local charity offers a range of therapeutic interventions including talking therapies, music, and art. IPSUM aims to help address issues including mental, psychological, and emotional health, as well as addressing loneliness and isolation by encouraging an active lifestyle and helping to promote positive change.
There are many ways to support IPSUM Swindon, including volunteering, fundraising and purchasing artwork donated by service users. Further information can be found on the website here: https://www.ipsum.care/
