APRIL saw Swindon rally to support those hit hardest by the new lockdown and provided plenty of examples of wonderful community spirit that continued throughout the year.
Wood Street favourite Biplob delivered dinners to vulnerable and elderly residents in nearby retirement homes and assisted living facilities.
Stratton Juniors FC chairman Magnus Painter with the help of club secretary Paul Surridge cooked up many meals for people around the parish and beyond.His coaches and other volunteers dropped off the deliveries while football matches could not go ahead.
He later received a £2,000 grant to continue the scheme and allowed access to Grange Leisure's kitchen.
Ice cream man Francesco Carchedi of Chez's Ices attracted a long queue of cars when he parked his van in Bridgemead and County Ground car parks.
He provided a contact-free drive-through service and dished out dessert trays to motorists in need of a sweet pick-me-up.
And takeaway services launched at pubs and restaurants around the town, giving the hospitality sector a way to keep serving customers during these unprecedented times.
The lockdown dealt big blows to retail giants like Debenhams, which announced that it would close its Swindon town centre shop after more than 50 years in Falcon House because it could not come to an agreement with the landlord.
A couple of couples were stranded for days in Spain after the borders began to close and flights were cancelled but they eventually managed to make their way home.
Though next time you think you've had a bad day, be glad you're not the Swindon lottery winner who missed out on £1 million after buying a winning Euromillions ticket in the town but never claimed the cash.
The National Lottery appealed for the winner to come forward through an April Adver article, but the deadline to do so passed without a peep from the would-be millionaire.
A YOUNG singing sensation from Swindon shot to stardom after an appearance on Britain's Got Talent.
Fayth Ifil auditioned for the judges in April and wowed them with a cover of Tina Turner's Proud Mary which got the audience on their feet for a standing ovation.
The talented 12-year-old had played a younger version of the singer in the musical TINA when she was 11 and performed in the School of Rock West End musical the year before.
The youngster has trained at the weekends with the Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts Swindon at Nova Hreod Academy since the age of eight.
Simon Cowell pressed his golden buzzer to send the Cricklade Manor Preparatory School student straight to the semi-final. Fayth's mum ran up to hug her little girl as she burst into happy tears and confetti rained down on them.
She told the Adver afterwards: "I just couldn’t believe it when it happened. I kept thinking am I dreaming? I wanted someone to pinch me.
“Simon was asking me whether I’d ever had any negative feedback and talked to me about the support network of my family and how millions of people round the world now support me, and all of a sudden he pressed the golden buzzer and I just started crying. I just couldn’t believe it.”
“I keep going through the moment in my mind because of how amazing it was."
As with everything else this year, Covid disrupted the show's usual format but Fayth still got to return to the BGT stage in September, this time in front of a virtual audience and singing an Audra Day song.
Though she didn't make it to the final, Fayth enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, her performances have been seen by millions of people and showered with praise, and she briefly became a household name.
It's safe to say that she certainly did Swindon proud.
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