There was welcome news for Swindon last week, as the Government announced that the town would benefit from a new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC).
West Swindon CDC will be based at the West Swindon Health Centre, which has good bus routes and parking facilities. It will increase diagnostic capacity and reduce waiting times locally. Once operational, it will deliver up to 18,675 checks, tests and scans a year, tailored to meet the needs of patients.
The Community Diagnostic Centre will increase diagnostic capacity and reduce waiting times with state-of-the-art equipment to deliver CT, MRI, respiratory, echocardiography, cardiology, sleep studies and pathology tests and scans. Activity will begin to be delivered through mobile facilities from December 2023 with CT and MRI (contrast and non-contrast) scans, with the remaining facilities being open by September 2024.
Along with the £26 million awarded to Great Western Hospital by the Conservative Government to expand urgent and emergency care, the new Community Diagnostic Centre will help to improve care for local residents here in Swindon.
There was further great investment news for Swindon to start the week off again this week, as the Conservative Government announced that the town is set to benefit from £133,481.00 as the Swimming Pool Support Fund launched.
The Link Centre has been awarded £104,331.00 from the new fund and Dorcan Recreation Centre is set to benefit from £29,150.00.
I know how important swimming is for many people across South Swindon, including my own family, and I also understand that swimming pools and leisure facilities have struggled over recent months as operating costs have increased, so this £133,481.00 investment into the Link Centre and Dorcan Recreation Centre as part of the £20 million Government fund for swimming pools and leisure facilities across England is very welcome news.
This funding will help ensure that the swimming pools and leisure facilities can manage the increased operating costs so local residents here in Swindon can continue to stay fit and healthy.
It was great to see so many local residents at my busy surgery at the Civic Offices on Saturday with the help of my constituency team. Advice surgeries provide residents with the opportunity to raise any local or national issue that they may have with me in person. As a hardworking, visible, and approachable MP, I will continue to write to invite local constituents to my advice surgeries in our various communities we have here in South Swindon, so please do look out for a letter if you would like to attend.
Following my surgery, I was very pleased to meet with the team from the New Mechanics Trust in the historic Railway Village here in South Swindon for a tour of The Cricketers. Following investment of several hundreds of thousands of pounds from the Government’s Department of Levelling Up, The New Mechanics Trust have been running a project here in the heart of Swindon to revive a famous pub. A purposed-built pub in the 1850s, which will be so much more. It will be an internet café, a social space and there will be accommodation. It is a very exciting project revealing the historic heart of our great town, and it was a pleasure to meet with members of the team at The Cricketers and have a good look around a building, which I’ve not been in since it was a pub!
Finally, as we mark Remembrance Day this week, I would like to announce the Royal British Legion as my charity of the week. Here in Swindon, we have a great tradition of support for our armed forces, with serving members, plus a significant number of veterans living locally. The Royal British Legion is the country’s largest Armed Forces charity and provides lifelong support for the Armed Forces community – serving men and women, veterans, and their families.
The Royal British Legion Field of Remembrance in Swindon will officially open today, with a special service taking place. The field at Lydiard Park is one of six across the UK where more than 3,500 commemorative markers have been planted, each carrying a personal message to someone who has died. Members of the Armed Forces community make huge sacrifices in the Service of our country, and I am proud to support the work of the Royal British Legion in honouring the memory of the fallen, I hope you will also join me by wearing your Poppy with pride this week.
