SCHOOLCHILDREN have sought inspiration from their elders as they attempt to compose a huge poem describing their local community.

Pupils from Toothill, Westlea and Oliver Tomkins primary schools and Lydiard Park Academy took part in the project funded by the Toothill Big Local group, which has been appointed to oversee the distribution of the area’s £1million lottery windfall.

In a similar project to the original 1998 West Swindon Long Poem, called Westwords, 14 youngsters have been walking around Toothill and talking to residents who have been there for a long time. The Long Poem, which will run to 500 lines, is set to be debuted at the forthcoming Swindon Festival of Literature in May.

Poet Hilda Sheehan, who will pull all the ideas into one poem, said there was no shortage of inspiration in the area.

She said: “It’s been going really well – more has come out of it than I expected.

“The children have really enjoyed themselves. It’s a very positive community – the young and old have come together and got on really well.

“We’ve discovered a lot about Toothill and the children have used the statue of the watchers as a metaphor for watching out for each other.”

Toothill Primary School administrator Helen Huby said: “Our pupils have been loving the various activities.”

Toothill Primary School pupils Tamsin, 11, and Megan, 10, said they enjoyed writing poetry.

Tamsin said: “We have really enjoyed talking to older people and finding out how Toothill has grown over the years.”

Resident Jacqueline Parry said: “It was good to meet Hilda and the young talented budding poets at Lower Shaw Farm. The children are really enjoying working on the long poem.”

The young poets will perform their Long Poem at the Swindon Festival of Literature at Toothill Community Centre on Saturday, May 12, at 3pm.