AS a new year dawns, we're kicking off our Shout About Swindon campaign, highlighting the best bits of our amazing town.

Swindon sometimes gets unfairly maligned with a bad reputation and the team at the Adver thought it was high time that we focussed on celebrating the great and the good of the place we’re happy to call home.

This weekly feature will run throughout 2019 and shine a spotlight on to those people, groups and communities that strive to make a positive difference to the area. And we'll tell the stories of people who love the town and why.

It could be small community groups helping those in need, kind-hearted unsung heroes who support others on their street, councillors who work hard to keep their constituents happy, or big businesses which have proudly set up shop in Swindon for many years.

Adver editor Pete Gavan said: “Swindon is a wonderful town with an incredible amount of variety and a strong sense of community, but these aspects don’t always get the amount of attention they deserve.

“The Adver has diligently covered all the big breaking news in Swindon on a daily basis for decades but some of our readers have recently mentioned that some of these stories tend to be rather negative.

“Shout About Swindon will hopefully change that by highlighting under-appreciated residents and initiatives who have been doing stellar work under-the-radar, and promoting the plentiful positives about the town.

“There’s so much to shout about, so let’s get started.”

For this first feature, we’ve collected 10 top things to look forward to in Swindon in 2019 and asked our mayor Junab Ali to say a few words about why he’s proud to be a Swindonian.

Plus, we want you, our loyal readers, to get in touch and let us know about those who you think deserve a public pat on the back. And we want to know why you love Swindon.

Contact the Newsdesk by calling 01793 501806 or email newsdesk@swindonadvertiser.co.uk with Shout About Swindon in the title line.