There was great news for us all here in Swindon at the beginning of the week, when the Government announced that they had awarded more than £26 million of funding to Great Western Hospital to expand urgent and emergency care.
This government investment comes on top of £5.4 million in internal funding available to the Trust, and represents the biggest ever investment to the hospital site and one of the biggest that the NHS in the South West has seen.
Greater bed capacity and better flow through the hospital will better equip it to manage increasing demand from the area’s growing population.
I am delighted that we have secured this important investment in the GWH. Both Justin Tomlinson and I lobbied to deliver this funding and the Government has rightly seen how it will transform both emergency care and transitional care in Swindon.
This new £26 million investment will ensure that patients can get access to the right treatment, in the right place, at the right time, and is also an example of the long-term investment that our NHS needs.
There was further good news for Swindon at the end of last week, as Swindon Borough Council approved proposals to restore the dome of the Oasis Leisure Centre.
This is a positive step in the right direction. However, there is still a long way to go before the Oasis can be reopened.
I will continue to work closely with local residents, the Save the Oasis Campaign Group, Swindon Borough Council, and Seven Capital, and do all I can to keep pushing for the reopening of our much-loved leisure centre.
As you may already be aware, both myself and Cllr Suresh Gattapur have been campaigning hard on behalf of local residents for the Post Office in the West Swindon Shopping Centre to be reopened, since the day the Post Office was closed.
We have been in contact with local residents, the Post Office, and the new Postmaster to offer our support.
We received a positive update from the Post Office last week, who told us that the Postmaster has been informed that the landlord has agreed use of the premises for the West Swindon Post Office. This means that we can move a step forward.
The next step is to finalise the paperwork for the premises and for the Post Office to send a contract to the Postmaster. As soon as the contract is signed, the Post Office will then release details of the premises and new branch.
Last Friday, I was delighted to visit the team at Go Train here in Swindon. Go Train is a fantastic training centre, dedicated to supporting people as they enter employment and progress on that journey.
I am always very impressed by the drive, expertise, and level of care that the team at Go Train show to those they work with. It was also great to meet some of the people who are being supported by the team, and as ever, when I visit, I feel reassured that we have such a caring and professional group of people here in Swindon, striving to get people in rewarding work here in the town.
Finally, my local Charity of the Week is Twigs Community Gardens – a colourful and vibrant set of gardens here in Swindon, which are managed by Twigs as a resource to give people who experience mental health problems the chance to regain confidence, and self-esteem, and to learn new skills.
I have enjoyed many a visit to Twigs over the years, which provides plenty of ideas and inspiration to take home to your own garden, along with plants and craft goods to enhance it. All monies raised through sales at Twigs go directly towards funding this brilliant service here in our town.
There is also a “Friends of Twigs” website with further ideas on how you can support this wonderful service. For further details on Twigs and opening hours, please visit https://twigscommunitygardens.org.uk/
