Well Swindon certainly has certainly been sweltering, at last, and I hope everyone enjoyed the sunny Bank Holiday weekend. I know everywhere looks better when the sun is shining but seeing the pictures of people enjoying the green open spaces and parks in Swindon makes you realise just how much there is to do right on our doorstep.

There has already been a lot written and said about the news that Swindon has not been successful with its bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for funding to support a new museum and art gallery. Through this column I’ve actively supported the bid as we have done through the wider Switch on to Swindon network. The bid may have been unsuccessful but the very act of putting the bid in and the process behind it has been incredibly successful.

I’ve lived and worked in Swindon for many years and before I became in involved in SOTS I had no idea that we had such an amazing collection. Along with thousands of others I’ve learned more about the collection’s importance and become more enthusiastic about the opportunity to display it in a landmark building.

We have said from the start of SOTS that we will be unapologetically positive about Swindon and aim high in everything we do. The Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Trust’s bid aimed high, it was ambitious and they should be applauded for that.

So, more people know about the collection. More people have been mobilised in support of a new museum and art gallery. More people are talking about Swindon as a result of the bid.

That is success in my book and the only question now is how do we build on all of that and take the project forward.

Talking of success, the 25th Swindon Festival of Literature kicked off yesterday. For the next two weeks there is a vast array of events going on and I’d encourage you all to visit the website for details and tickets - www.swindonfestivalofliterature.co.uk

I’m particularly looking forward to seeing international speaker and author Charles Landry talk about his book, The Art of City Making. How can we all be more switched on to what our town or city has to offer? This is one of the questions he poses which seems like a perfect fit with SOTS which is why have partnered up with the Festival of Literature to present this particular event on May 15 at the Arts Centre at 6.30pm

The big event of the summer of course (apart from the World Cup, Royal Wedding and Wimbledon perhaps), is the SOTS Ambassador event on the evening of the June 14. Invites and event details will be going out later this week and we have secured a fantastic venue.

After just over a year of building momentum within Swindon and developing our ambassador network of over 600 people representing nearly 450 businesses and organisations June marks the shift into phase two of the campaign. We will be sharing plans for taking the SOTS message outside of the town linked to where we believe there is the strongest potential for growth in our target markets. We’ll also be able to share the latest on an exciting campaign being developed with ambassadors from Nationwide and Intel.

Look out for details in the next few days.