As we mark the 75th anniversary of our NHS this week, I would like to pay tribute to all of the fantastic NHS staff we have here in Swindon for their hard work and dedication, which makes a real difference to the lives of so many in our town, including me and my family.
I am looking forward to meeting with our NHS Parliamentary Award Winners from Great Western Hospital at a special awards ceremony in Westminster this week, as well as joining our Swindon NHS Champion, who is Deputy Chief Pharmacist at Great Western Hospital, at a special reception with the Prime Minister in Downing Street.
As we celebrate this special anniversary of our NHS, it is great to see the progress being made as part of Swindon’s Great Western Hospital emergency care expansion and look to the future of the service here in our town.
Back in January, along with Justin Tomlinson MP, I was delighted to announce that we had helped to secure more than £26 million to expand urgent and emergency care at the hospital. 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 the biggest that the NHS in the South West has seen.
Continuing on the theme of celebration, I would like to congratulate the brilliant team at New College Swindon on being granted University Centre Status for all of their Higher Education programmes, including those offered in the £21 million government-funded Swindon and Wiltshire Institute of Technology.
Alongside North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson, I campaigned hard for a new Institute of Technology to be built here in the town, and I was delighted when Swindon was awarded funding to build one of the first twelve Institutes of Technology in the country.
This new status, along with the brand new IOT, will mean that local residents here in Swindon will not have to travel out of the area to gain a university-level qualification, bringing local, affordable opportunities right here on our doorstep and helping to raise local aspirations.
When it comes to the future of our town, I will continue to ensure that we receive our fair share of government funding here in Swindon.
Reducing serious violence and improving community safety locally is also an important priority of mine, so the £5.4 million in funding for this year announced by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Swindon and Wiltshire was welcome news. The budget has been raised through the precept and grant funding from central government, as well as additional funding from the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office.
I work closely with our Police and Crime Commissioner, and also our local policing teams here in the town, and I will be meeting with the PCC and the Community Safety Partnership later this week in Swindon, to further discuss work to tackle the root causes of serious violence, making our streets safer and working to prevent crime.
Finally, my charity of the week is Felix Fund, a small military charity providing welfare support and financial assistance to serving personnel, veterans, and their dependents, for any military or SO15 (Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Unit) personnel, who have conducted or assisted with Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Search duties.
The support that Felix Fund provides is wide-ranging, from hydrotherapy treatment for a former soldier suffering from PTSD and sleep deprivation to providing a specially adapted buggy for the disabled son of a serving soldier and providing sporting equipment for two former sappers to allow them to train for and compete in the Invictus Games.
You can find out more about this excellent charity and how you can support their work by visiting
