Slowly but surely Swindon is becoming an arts and culture utopia

But we need to support it now more than ever

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The council needs to pull the town together to support Swindon’s stunning arts and culture scene

By Jamie Hill

A piece from the ‘Broken Britannia’ exhibition which will feature as part of Swindon Arts Fringe Festival

Life would be quite dull without the arts.

A grey monochrome existence without anything to inspire, brighten or just simply make our daily grind that tiny bit more pleasant.

In July last year we wrote a piece about ‘Magic Swindon’ - the council’s arts and culture strategy where they would be chucking everything including the kitchen sink at the sector (apart from money) and announced that it is integral to the town’s future.

As part of this big reveal Swindon Borough Council would be acting as the big ‘facilitator’ - making things happen in the town with support for organisations and getting the right people to talk to the right people.

And since then, apart from the announcement that they would be progressing a multi-use arts and concert venue at Kimmerfields to replace the Wyvern Theatre which is coming to the end of its life, we’ve not really heard much about Magic Swindon (still a horrible name) at all.

They might be doing a whole slew of things in the background but we’ve not heard a dicky bird.

Fortunately for Swindon, we have a plethora of individuals and organisations who go all out, usually in a voluntary capacity, to organise and host arts and culture events throughout the town, keeping it vibrant.

One such organisation is Swindon Arts Fringe Festival (SWAF), which returns to the town centre for a second year and hopes to be even more successful than last year.

The Fringe Festival focuses on inclusivity for curators and artists: giving opportunities for artists to find their place in Swindon’s vibrant creative scene and supporting them to freely exhibit, some for the first time.

Last year’s SWAF24 saw over 95 artists involved in the festival and drew over 1,000 visitors to the exhibitions.

The Fringe is a truly collaborative event created by Theatre Square-based Artsite.

As well as exhibitions there will be events and workshops to bring the arts to a wider audience.

‘As Time Goes by’ exhibition at Artsite will feature a performance by Rinky Dink, the bicycle powered sound system, and a talk by artist Stephen Wright from The House of Dreams Museum will complement the ‘Outsider Art’ exhibition by SLART in Museum & Art Swindon.

This year, 14 curators have come up with a variety of creative themes and have invited artists to submit work.

A piece from The Miniature Swindon exhibition

‘Miniature Swindon’ curated by Leah Bevan-Haines asked artists to create tiny items that represent things, places and people in Swindon; the ‘Broken Britannia’ exhibition has invited artists to express their unique perspectives – good or bad – on life in Britain 2025.

Venues this year include the Wyvern Theatre, Artsite in Theatre Square, Swindon Central Library, Mams Gallery, Museum & Art Swindon, Bert's Books, Swindon Hub and the Carriage Works. Entrance to all exhibitions and events is free.

The Festival runs from 16 to 29 June with the Launch at Mam's Gallery, Eastcott Hill, on Friday 13 June at 7pm.

For more information and a full list of SWAF25 exhibitions and events visit
www.swindonartsfringe.co.uk

Another popular event that will be back this year is Swindon Paintfest which takes place on Saturday 30 August.

The annual event, run by Artsite & The Post Modern is returning for its fourth year bringing the town to life with new murals, live paintings, exhibitions and more.

Several iconic murals in the town centre have been created as part of previous Paint Fests and the borough council will be supporting the event again this year, providing further space for the artists to work their magic.

From Sunday 1 June to Sunday 8 June the revitalised Old Town Arts Festival returns this time with an added emphasis on the arts.

It kicks off with a family fun day on 1 June at Old Town Gardens and culminates with a street party in Wood Street on 8 June. In between the entirety of Old Town will be awash with music, art, comedy, talks and photography. Check out oldtownfestival.org for the full rundown.

In the coming months you won’t be able to move for something arty and something cultural happening throughout the town, from My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival in Old Town Gardens on Saturday 26 July to Signal Festival from 25 July to 2 August and Swindon and Wiltshire Pride at GWR Park on Saturday 9 August.

There’s also Swindon Open Studios, which takes place during the last two weekends of September, and the infamous Swindon Shuffle which takes place from 11 September to 14 September.

Those events are just the tip of the iceberg and I’ve not even gone into events that have already happened like Swindon Festival of Literature, The Festival of Tomorrow and Swinterfest.

If you ever hear anyone suggest that Swindon is a cultural desert again, you can just dismiss them as the ignorant people they most certainly are.

None of these things would happen, though, if Swindonians themselves didn’t come out and support these events, which for the most part they do.

But to get back to Magic Swindon. You guys definitely need to bang that drum a bit louder.

I personally sit on two committees for two events in the town. The immensely popular music festival Swinterfest, which held its inaugural event in February, and The Swindon Shuffle. Both are run not for profit and raise money for charity with volunteers making up the committee.

We’re not asking for any financial help but just to hear from Magic Swindon would definitely be a good thing to help us with a myriad of different things from the expansion of what we do, helping with publicity and what arts funding could be out there.

Just a conversation would be good. We did speak to Cllr Marina Strinkovsky, the SBC Cabinet member for Placemaking and Planning, at an event once but nothing ever came of it.

They could help facilitate organisations and venues to negotiate red tape and to really help build on the foundations of arts and cultural organisations that already exist in the town.

For all we know, they might have actually been involved in some of the aforementioned events above but as far as we can see they are pretty invisible at the moment.

You would have thought one of the first things the council-run strategy would have done is approached and done an audit of what cultural and arts organisations already exist within the town but they obviously have not done that.

And as part of this story I did a web search for ‘Magic Swindon’ and the only thing I could find even mentioning the strategy, amongst the hundreds of Magic Roundabout sites, was a single lonely Adver news story from last July.

If an organisation wanted their help they wouldn’t know who and how to approach them anyway.

Obviously if anyone involved in the strategy is reading this, please, please approach us and put us right and we’d be only too happy to shout about it.

But as it is, it’s like the ‘Magic’ they’re referring to in the name ‘Magic Swindon’ is some kind of vanishing act.

For all we know the entire strategy could have been quietly shelved.

It kind of says it all really.

The Ink News Briefing

Serious failings in Swindon social housing standards found by regulator

The Regulator of Social Housing has identified serious failings in how Swindon Borough Council is currently delivering official consumer standards.

Findings of the Regulator included that at the time of the inspection the council was unable to report accurately on the presence of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, was unable to track or monitor faults from electrical safety checks, and there were more than 800 overdue fire safety actions, the majority of which were overdue by more than a year.

The council, which invited the inspection, has emphasised its commitment to dealing with the issues raised.

It referred itself to the Regulator in September 2024 after commissioning an independent internal review of its housing services.

In a system of four grades, with C1 representing the best compliance with regulations and C4 the least, Swindon was rated C3, a grade it shares with seven other local authorities which have undergone similar assessments. Two local authorities have so far been rated C1, 14 at C2 and one at C4.

Summarising the decision regarding Swindon Borough Council, the Regulator noted: "From the evidence and assurance gained during the inspection, it is our judgement that there are serious failings in Swindon BC for delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed, specifically in relation to outcomes in our Safety and Quality Standard and Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard."

In response, the council has reaffirmed its determination to improve housing services to tenants.

Cllr Janine Howarth, Cabinet Member for Housing at Swindon Borough Council, said: “We fully accept this judgement and the Regulator’s grading of our housing services. It makes clear that we are falling short on our responsibility to consistently deliver a decent standard of housing and comply with national standards that came into force in April 2024.

“Having met with hundreds of tenants and leaseholders since taking on Cabinet Member responsibility for housing services in May 2023, it quickly became clear that some areas of our housing services were not at the level our tenants should expect.

“That is why we commissioned an independent review of our housing services which led to the Council referring itself to the Regulator in September 2024. This resulted in the inspection completed in May 2025.

“Today’s judgement acknowledges our strong commitment to improving, recognising the action we are already taking and the progress made.

“Last November, we set up a Housing Improvement Board that brings together tenants, councillors, and officers every month to oversee our improvement plan and scrutinise housing performance data.

“As a member of the Board, I am assured that the number of overdue fire safety actions cited in the Regulator’s judgement will continue to decrease rapidly, with a 76% reduction already achieved between December 2024 and March 2025.

“More than 1,590 council homes now have new alarms that detect heat, smoke, and carbon monoxide as part of a four-year £10.5m upgrade programme that began last September.

“Around 10 per cent of all council homes benefitting from these new alarms will also receive environmental sensors that measure temperature and humidity levels. These will provide tenants with real-time data and alerts to help them take proactive measures to maintain a safe and healthy living space.

“In March this year, the Council’s Cabinet approved a five-year, £250m programme of maintenance and major refurbishment work on council homes. This is a 78 per cent increase in planned investment compared to the previous five years and will make a significant contribution to improving the condition of some of our older homes, which have suffered from a lack of investment in roofs, windows and kitchens.

“We are also making a £4.2m capital investment in a new online housing system to make it easier for tenants to manage their tenancy and access services.

“As the Regulator has identified, how we engage and involve tenants in our work needs to improve. That is why we have commissioned England’s leading tenant engagement experts, Tpas, to advise on our future approach.

"Tenants and leaseholders in all of our properties will receive a letter from today inviting them to a series of events next month to hear more about the improvements we’re making, ask questions, and tell us what matters most to them.

“This will build on our ‘Behind Every Door’ programme which over the past seven months has seen housing officers visit 350 individual tenants at their homes, listening to their needs and offering practical support where it’s needed.

“We will publish our full housing improvement plan later this year, informed by tenants’ feedback and the Regulator’s report.”

Tenants are being invited to a series of ‘Let’s talk Housing Swindon’ events, which will take place throughout June:
- Park Library in Cavendish Square: Tuesday, 10 June, 6pm–8pm
- West Swindon Library in Whitehill Way: Wednesday, 11 June, 6.30pm–8.30pm
- Central Community Centre in Emlyn Square: Saturday, 14 June, 11am–1pm
- John Moulton Hall Community Centre in Penhill Drive: Tuesday, 17 June, 6pm–8pm

Making a difference to our children’s future

Working towards a Society Without Abuse is more than supporting today’s victims, but one that needs a longer-term approach that entwines overcoming the present-day harm with preventing abusive behaviours in the future.

Kate Rowland, CEO of SWA, explains how the charity’s Children and Young People (CYP) Team put that approach into action to make a difference to our children’s future, including David from Swindon.

David was referred to us when he was just seven and a half. His Mum had recently left an abusive relationship where she experienced coercive control, physical, emotional, psychological and financial abuse at the hands of her partner who David had known as his stepfather since he was two.

David had witnessed the abuse and had on occasions attempted to intervene. He’d been pushed roughly by his stepfather who threatened to take David from his Mum. At that point, Mum said she knew she had to get out. After hearing the threat, David was petrified that he would be taken. He became hypervigilant and overwhelmed with anxiety, was having nightmares and became very clingy to Mum. He didn’t want to go to school, his attendance was low and he was falling behind.

David started 1-1 sessions at school with one of SWA’s CYP specialists, Kirsty, and after only a few sessions of getting to know each other, Mum told Kirsty that it was easier to get him to school on the days he knew he would see her.

David’s teacher also said he appeared “happier and lighter” on those days. David was able to share worries that he hadn’t shared with anyone previously and Kirsty helped him recognise that there were trusted adults within his life that he could talk with.

Over the next few months, David continued with his sessions. It became apparent that he was focussed on the past and needed help to move forward.

He was very worried about his safety and the safety plan that David and Kirsty created together, helped him feel more in control of the situation.

Kirsty helped David focus on the positives in his life; what was going well, his personal strengths and talents. This supported in building his self-esteem and helped him realise that despite a bad thing happening, he can still have a positive future because of his own strengths.

David has often been in trouble at school for hurting other children, and he found making friends difficult. He found it hard to understand why other children didn’t want to play with him and often complained that other children were bullying him.

Kirsty and David did lots of work around healthy relationships and conflict resolution. David is now having greater success with friendships and has some friends who he regularly plays with. Now, he rarely accuses others of bullying him, and has started to recognise the part he played in disagreements.

David has told Kirsty that he feels happier, and both Mum and his teacher agree that he is happier and getting into trouble less. He still finds it difficult to get into school, but once there, has a more positive attitude and is in a better place to learn. David and Mum know that he may need further support in the future from SWA but are feeling much more positive about the future.

Support the work of SWA by enjoying an evening of music at this Saturday’s (17^th May) High Sheriff of Wiltshire’s Concert at Christ Church, Swindon, with Swindon’s all female Big Band, Swing Birds. Tickets are on sale from www.ticketsource.co.uk/stardustevents

For more information on SWA, visit www.societywithoutabuse.org.uk

If you need advice for yourself or a friend relating to Domestic Abuse, call Swindon’s domestic abuse helpline on 01793 610610.

Anyone can suffer abuse. If you are in immediate danger, don’t delay – call 999

If you are affected by any form of domestic abuse, either yourself or are worried about someone you know, do ask for help

· Refuge – national free domestic abuse helpline 0808 2000 247 (24 hours)

· Swindon Area Residents in need of help – Call 01793 610610 (24 hours)

· Residents in the rest of Wiltshire can call Fear Free on 01225 775276 (9am-5pm) or out of those times call 01225 712880

· National Domestic Abuse Helpline - 0808 2000 247 (24 hours)

· Men’s Advice Line – 0808 8010327

· National Helpline for LGBT+ Victims & Survivors of Domestic Abuse – 0800 999 5428

The Swindon Link Magazine Archive

Over on The Ink’s sister publication Swindon Link’s website you will find an impressive archive of the past 45 years of Swindon Link magazines, giving you a huge glimpse into the town’s recent past from the beginnings of West Swindon to now. You can find the archive here.

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