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Broadgreen opens doors for fun day

5:43pm Sunday 17th May 2009 in


THE Broadgreen community opened its doors this weekend for its annual fun day.

The free event, which was organised by the Broad Street Area Community Council, featured sports events, entertainment and displays by local charities.

There were prizes for children for fancy dress, egg and spoon contests and beanbag races.

Karen Leakey, one of the organisers of the event, said: “It has been a fantastic day. We have had a really good turnout and there has been something for everyone to do.”

Local resident Derek Sutton agreed, saying: “This is what Broadgreen is all about. You have every race, every age, every type of person you could imagine represented here today. Everyone has come together to celebrate being part of this community.”

Local police were on hand to meet residents, as were local politicians, including central ward councillors, South Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove and Conservative parliamentary candidate Robert Buckland.

They were greeted by dance routines from the Charlotte Johnson School of Dance and Musical Theatre, as well as a demonstration by the Red Lion School of Martial Arts.

There were also displays of old photos from the Broadgreen and Queenstown History Group and a talk on the Broadgreen Community Plan by John Taylor MBE.

Beryl Phillips has lived in Broadgreen since 1975. She said: “People have been saying to me they had no idea this kind of thing happened in Broadgreen because all you ever hear is the negative side. This shows all the good things that go on in Broadgreen that people forget about.”

Comments(14)

bilzinuk says...
8:44pm Sun 17 May 09

All the good things ?
Don't think everyone would agree with that comment

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tradesman says...
8:55pm Sun 17 May 09

why does this area of swindon get more press coverage than any other? it seems all the political wanabees jump on the broadgreen diversity bandwagon. i remember when man road area was italians and irish, didnt get no press in them days.

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tradesman says...
9:01pm Sun 17 May 09

i have just read someone was stabbed in the 'broadgreen' area last night. lovely area beryl.

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Captain Sensible says...
7:24am Mon 18 May 09

One big happy family thats Broadgreen, well except the petty crime, stabbings, prostitution, fly tipping and inter racial fire bombings.

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Common Dreads says...
9:08am Mon 18 May 09

When is this ludicrous PR offensive about Broadgreen going to come to an end?

In light of a multitude of recent events - fire bombing of occupied houses that were blamed on racists but were actually carried out by members of the very same 'vibrant and diverse' community, stabbings in street brawls, the are continuing to be a red-light district, the widespread drug dealing and consumption in the Broadgreen area, the percentage of residents living in the country illegally.

It just goes on and on and on. I do feel very sorry for the decent people living in the area, but pretending it's all fine and dandy in Broadgreen is clearly helping nobody.

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Taffynut says...
9:44am Mon 18 May 09

Broadgreen is the worse area in Swindon, yet gets all the publicity whereby other areas have done more good for Swindon and get f....g all in the press. Demolish Broadgreen and convert it into a wasteland and see what will happen. I drive pass Manchester Road quite frequently, there is nothing but drug pushers and roads cordoned off due to this and that, the whole area is a TOTAL disgrace regardless of opening doors for such and such parties. They are CREATING more trouble!

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nuddy2 says...
1:30pm Mon 18 May 09

oh dear, you sad little people

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Tiger13 says...
2:01pm Mon 18 May 09

I've lived in Broadgreen for 17 years, and yes it has problems. However most are caused by people who do not live in the area. Landlords who live elsewhere and cream off a profit from letting sub-standard housing to people who are desparate for a home, companies who fly-tip rubbish, drunks who cut through on thier way home from town centre pubs and prostitues from Bristol who pick up men from various so-called respectable Swindon districts. And do i detect a big dollop of racism in some of your comments? Broadgreen has a great sense of community - and unless you've spent time with the people of Broadgreen you are NOT in a position to express a valid viewpoint.

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Common Dreads says...
2:38pm Mon 18 May 09

"And do i detect a big dollop of racism in some of your comments?"

No, although I have no doubt that you think you do.

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Tiger13 says...
5:18pm Mon 18 May 09

Do you not think that there is a degree of resentment around the fact that we enjoy our culturally diverse community? Or that this is supported buy politicians and statutory bodies? Would people even comment on the political interest if the majority of residents were white? I doubt it! I've never seen Parks or Penhill slated in quite the same way, even though they have much greater issues regarding crime and social deprivation.

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nuddy2 says...
8:55pm Mon 18 May 09

I popped along for a while on Saturday and it was just a friendly and happy event.

somthing Ifound out was, despite the multi cultural make up of the area, they got no funding to run it, and funded it themselves.

I really don't know why people feel the need to slag everything off about the area.
How very sad some of my fellow Swindonians have become.


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Common Dreads says...
9:22am Tue 19 May 09

To the above two posts, if Boadgreen was such a great and pleasant area, this would be reflected in high house prices in the area.

As it stands, the house prices in the Broadgreen area are amongst the lowest in the whole of the town.

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thecowisback says...
11:34am Tue 19 May 09

maybe if the police and ambulance had come out to the bleeding man earlier in the evening when my daughter called them this could have been avoided. the ambulance control told her it wasn't urgent and the police drove past people bleeding in the street and didn't do a thing. early intervention could have stopped the later trouble.
there are some lovely people living in this area and the minority spoil it for them. policing needs to be stepped up in this area and needs an overhaul across swindon as a whole.
when i lived in swindon i reported heroin dealers dealing outside my gate at the same time every other day yet every time i rang the police i was told they were too busy to come out.

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Tiger13 says...
6:50pm Tue 19 May 09

I totally agree... I called an ambulance for the victim and it turned up an hour later. Thanksfully the police had organised another ambulance, sent him to hospital and were about to leave when the ambulance that i called finally arrived! I agree - we don't get enough help with dealing with the problems.

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