How to protect yourself and those around you this winter

COVID-19 hasn’t gone away – case rates are currently rising across Swindon. There are some key things that you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community:

• Get vaccinated to reduce your risk of becoming seriously ill and to protect others
• If you feel unwell or have symptoms, stay at home and avoid close contact with others
• Let fresh air in when you meet with others
• Wash or sanitise your hands regularly and cover your mouth and nose if you cough or sneeze
• Wear a face covering in crowded and enclosed public places and when coming into contact with people at higher risk of COVID-19

This winter, both COVID-19 and flu may circulate at high levels, potentially at the same time. Ahead of what could be a difficult season, you can boost your immunity by getting vaccinated as soon as you’re eligible:

• Check your eligibility for the flu vaccine
• Check your eligibility for the COVID autumn booster

After a small number of dead birds were recovered at Swindon parks, test results have been confirmed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as avian (bird) flu.

The risk of transmission to humans and other mammals, such as cats and dogs, is very low. But it's important that if you see dead or sick wild birds in any of our local parks that you don't touch them. You should also not touch any bird feathers or areas contaminated by droppings.

If you do find a dead bird in a public area, please report it through our dedicated webpage. You can also call the DEFRA helpline on 0345 933 5577.

Our park rangers have been out this week, and will continue to be out over the weekend, to collect any dead birds in public spaces.

Last month, we held a Facebook Q&A with experts from Warm & Safe Wiltshire and Citizens Advice Swindon, who answered your questions on how to manage rising gas and electricity costs.

Above is a clip from the video where Elliot Clark talks about how to make your heating more efficient, but you can watch the whole video on our Facebook page, where they talk about smart meters, when to get in touch with your energy provider and any financial support schemes available.

There’s other things you can do around your home to potentially save a bit of money including:

1. If you’ve got a condensing combi boiler at home (one that produces your heating and hot water) save up to 8 per cent in gas use and £70 per year (Octopus Energy) by turning down the 'flow' temperature
2. If you only have a single room thermostat for the whole house, for every degree you reduce the temperature, it will reduce your heating bill by about 10 per cent (Energy Saving Trust)
3. Keeping your shower time to just four minutes could save a typical household £70 a year on their energy bills (Octopus Energy)

Check which of these energy saving tips provided by Octopus Energy, Money Saving Expert (Martin Lewis) or the Energy Saving Trust could help you reduce your bills.

Second Government Cost of Living Payment to be paid next month

Around 24,400 families in Swindon will start to be paid the second £324 instalment of the Government’s Cost of Living Payment from 8 November. The first payment of £326 was issued earlier in the year, making a total £650 payment overall.

Last month 18,000 people in Swindon started to be paid the Government’s £150 lump sum Disability Cost of Living Payment.

• You don’t need to apply for these payments and you’ll be paid automatically if you're eligible.
• If you’ve had a message asking you to apply or contact someone about the payment, it could be a scam, so report it to the Government

Further support to help those most in need of support

Over the past year around 80,000 Swindon households have received energy vouchers to help with rising electricity and gas costs. These were administered by the Council using £3 million in grant funding from the Government’s Household Support Fund. This funding has also paid for:

• Food vouchers
• Emergency financial assistance
• Grants for local charities like the Swindon Food Collective, Boxes of Hope, Swindon Night Shelter and Swindon Gorse Hill Salvation Army
• Free school holiday activities and meals for around 7,000 children in Swindon

The Government recently awarded the Council a further £1.5m for support until March 2023 and we're currently working through how best to use this to support the community.

Since July, we've been progressing the unglamorous but essential work required to make a 20-acre site next to Fleming Way (known as Kimmerfields) suitable for future development..

This will involve safely removing four redundant oil tanks and installing new drainage, street lighting, roads and pavements.

To guide this future development on the site, the Council’s Cabinet will be reviewing an overarching plan next week for how the land could be used in the years ahead.

This has been informed by market analysis and discussions with partners on the feasibility to create: 

• A Cultural Quarter in Swindon including 1,200 seat theatre, media arts centre and art pavilion
• A new town centre green public space
• Up to 250 new town centre homes
• 200,000 sq ft of high quality office space
• The now completed new Zurich office building (Unity Place)

To find out more you can visit our dedicated town centre webpages.

Restoration work on the town’s historic Health Hydro has moved a step closer after a planning and Listed Building Consent application was submitted.

An initial £6.5m in Government and Council funding will be invested in this landmark building which will regenerate the main pool, refurbish the changing facilities and create a new health and fitness suite and a range of other improvements.

This investment is estimated to deliver twice as much in economic benefits, due to the knock-on effect of more people visiting and spending their money in the town centre.

These improvements are being coordinated by the Council in partnership with Historic England through the Swindon Heritage Action Zone.

Future phases of work will include the restoration of the iconic Turkish baths and the regeneration of the small pool.

Financial first aiders with Citizens Advice

Want to know more about how you can best budget, how you can do some savvy shopping or maybe find out if you’re missing out on any benefits?

Talk to Citizens Advice Swindon financial first aiders at sessions across the Borough:

• Tomorrow (8 October) at Highworth Charity Craft Fair, St Michael’s Church from 10am to 2.30pm
• Sunday, 9 October at Changing Suits: Health and Wellbeing Community Fun Day at the Punjabi Community Centre (SN2 7BB) from 11am to 3pm
• Monday, 10 October at the Community Fridge at Gorse Hill Baptist Church from 11am to 2pm

Get in touch with them for more info via their website.

Get on top of your finances with Crosslight Advice

Go along to Crosslight Advice’s free budgeting course next Wednesday (12 October) to help your way through the cost of living increases.

They’ll be at The Pattern Church (Penzance Drive, SN5 7JL) from 7pm to 9pm – sign up today.