Ten things to look forward to in Swindon in 2019

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.

SHOUT ABOUT SWINDON: Adver campaign celebrates all that's good in our town

So here are ten things to look forward to in Swindon in 2019...

Town centre treats

SWINDON’S town centre should be jam-packed throughout the year.

inSwindon BID has an exciting array of events planned for 2019, including a fashion-themed month in May.

This year also sees the return of the Summer Festival in July and the Christmas lights switch-on in November.

Tinchy Stryder, Jahmene Douglas, Lilia Slattery and Phoebe Maddison wowed the crowds at last year’s switch-on.

Though its future seemed uncertain for much of 2018, the Swindon Half Marathon will also be back by popular demand in September after a surge of support for this year’s run around town saw it reach a record-breaking fundraising total of more than £118,000.

Registration for the Nationwide Building Society event will go live on February 1 at newswindonhalf.co.uk.

Kimmerfields continues

After years of discussion, proper plans are in place for the regeneration of the levelled Kimmerfields site in the town centre.

Financial giant Zurich wants to build a new office block as its headquarters – designing it to be much more flexible for use as business requirements change over the years.

Not only is it a useful vote of confidence in Swindon to have one of the town’s major employers making long term plans for the future, the borough council hopes that having a prestigious ‘anchor tenant’ on the site will attract other top companies to the area as part of regenerating not just the site itself but giving a boost to the town centre as a whole.

There will be issues during the construction phase with traffic, but in the long-term there’s much to hope for.

The future's bright(er)

TRAVELLING all the way to Oxford for chemotherapy treatment will soon be a thing of the past for Swindon patients once GWH’s new radiotherapy unit is up and running.

The whole town rallied behind the Brighter Futures appeal with dozens of events, sponsorships and fundraisers which raised a whopping £2 million for the unit in what must surely be one of Swindon’s biggest success stories and greatest achievements.

Plans to build the unit are still in the early stages as the total has only just been reached, but more details will emerge later this year.

A separate Brighter Futures appeal for a new special care baby unit at the hospital also hit its total in the final days of 2018, so we can expect more news on that soon.

Brexit certainty at last?

Nobody knows how Brexit will turn out – no decisions of any substance have been taken since the referendum in June 2016.

But at least we might see some sort of resolution to the endless questions and bickering, with, at the moment, the UK set to leave the EU on March 29.

There is due to be a vote in Parliament in less than two weeks on Prime Minister’s Theresa May’s proposed deal, and perhaps we’ll all get to find out what exactly a backstop is.

Whatever happens, and whatever the long-term prospects, we suspect most in Swindon would welcome some movement, any movement form the argumentative paralysis the country has been stuck in for more than two years.

Although it seems likely this year will be the end of the beginning, rather than the beginning of the end.

Railway extension

THE Swindon & Cricklade Railway may return to Cricklade at last this year.

The heritage railway charity has all the material it needs to extend the line six decades after the original track was torn up.

Once all the rails, sleepers and fittings have been moved from Blunsdon to the railway, the charity’s volunteers can install the rails using heavy machinery.

The charity also hopes to reinstate a bridge and build a halt at Farfield Lane, then run trains from there to Cricklade.

The project is expected to cost £2.5 million.

Read more: 'Let's be proud of how great it is'

Return to the polls

Local elections might not always get the pulse racing – but it’s better to live in a democracy than not, and elections for 19 councillors in Swindon in May will be fascinating.  The Conservatives held on to power last year after losing a seat to see their majority cut to one - Labour will be making a big push to gain seats and winning just two could see that group in administration.  The Lib Dems will hope for a comeback and could hold the balance of power while Greens and Ukip will battle to make its voice heard locally.

Local government is where most of the real decisions that affect people’s lives are made and the stakes are high in Swindon. Register and vote.

Music festival returns

THE Swindon Music Festival returns in March for its 110th event.

Well-known names have launched their careers at the Swindon festival, including jazz superstar pianist Jamie Cullum and actress Diana Dors.  The event is regarded as a real stepping stone for budding musicians and singers to showcase their skills in daily classes for piano, guitar, brass, woodwind, strings, organs, choirs, solos, duets and composers.

The adjudicators this year are organist/pianist and harpsichord player and teacher Gary Sieling, pianist Caroline Clemmow, and opera singer Yvonne Patrick. The accompanist is Swindon’s own Paul Turner.

The festival begins at Christ Church in Old Town then moves to the Arts Centre, running from March 22 to 30.

Dance school's 60th

The Estelle School of Dance is one of the oldest dance schools in Swindon.  It has been bringing a sparkle to the eyes of young ones, longing for their first pink tutu, and giving a spring to the step of older dancers since it was founded in 1958.  This year, the school marks its 60th anniversary with a production of The Slipper and the Rose at the Wyvern Theatre on March 1 and 2.  The principal Pat Bennett, pictured, opened the school on her 20th birthday and since then her love of dance and care for her students has passed on a passion for dance to countless Swindon dancers. It was always Pat’s dream to dance and having badgered her parents, she was allowed to take dancing lessons and then trained at the Rambert Studios in London.  She danced as a semi-professional and then began her own school.

Choir celebrating centenary

THE Swindon Male Voice Choir celebrates its centenary this year.

The town’s longest--established choir was formed from workers of the traditional Swindon Steam Railway Works in 1919 and was originally known as the Great Western Railway Running Sheds Male Voice Choir.

After decades of performing at concerts, church services and charity events, and winning competitions around the country, the choir’s 50-plus members will be looking forward to celebrating 100 years of song with a variety of events in the coming months.

More details will be revealed soon, and the choir is always keen to welcome new members to help keep it going for the next 100 years.

Visit swindonmalevoicechoir.co.uk

Snoasis

It might seem unlikely but Swindon could become the hothouse that grows future Olympic skiing and snowboarding champions.

After years in the planning and discussion, ground should be broken in just a few months as work starts on a major indoor snow centre - nicknamed Snoasis as it’s just across the road from the Oasis leisure centre And just as Oasis was revolutionary in its day, the developers and the borough council hope Snoasis will be a major destination for people both from the town and visitors alike.