The sun certainly decided to shine this weekend and the amazing pictures flying around on social media are a great reminder of just how much green open space and how many public parks there are in Swindon for people to enjoy.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and the array of images posted in the last few days are certainly doing a huge amount of work in terms of challenging some of the perceptions people outside of Swindon may have.

I’m delighted to say we have teamed up with a local Instagram account #we-are-swindon (follow on Twitter @PositiveSwindon) to showcase some the best images of Swindon through the Switch On To Swindon website and all of our social media channels.

Please take a look, follow and contribute to this excellent gallery.

Something else that may surprise is the news that The Royal Central School Of Speech And Drama is bringing a major theatre project to Swindon this week. A specialist college of the University of London, the prestigious school runs courses including acting, applied theatre and technical arts and production.

And 1,000 pupils aged nine to 14 will enjoy a series of free performances in schools as well as being welcomed to a temporarily transformed Carriage Works in Swindon’s railway quarter.

Students from Central’s Drama, Applied Theatre and Education Course will present a new primary school version of the King Midas myth, called The Midas Project, in the Carriage Works while secondary schools will receive a Theatre-In-Education production called Are We Gonna Go There?

Both productions are delivered in partnership with the council and one of our Switch On To Swindon ambassadors, Prime Theatre, who celebrate 30 years of existence this year.

Securing this production shows Swindon’s commitment to arts and culture while also utilising a historic space in a really creative way which will allow local people to see it in a new light.

There are still some tickets left for performances this week tomorrow and Friday at 7pm. Tickets can be reserved through www.eventbrite.co.uk or by calling Prime Theatre on 01793 614864 so go and book now.

I make no apologies for giving another plug for the consultation the council is conducting on the draft economic strategy for Swindon. We all have a stake in this and here’s why:

* Swindon’s population is expected to grow by 30,000 by 2026.

* 20,000 new jobs are expected to be created in the next 10 years.

* 22,000 new homes will be built by 2026.

Visit www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20019/consultations_and_surveys.

The economic strategy will guide how those jobs are created, in what industries, where homes will be built, what types of homes and what infrastructure is invested in. We all have a stake in those sorts of decisions so take a look at the consultation now and get involved - www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20019/consultations_and_surveys