Our Adult Community Learning (ACL) programme provides free courses to adult learners in Swindon, enrolling more than 750 eligible learners, in 40 locations a year.

They offer opportunities for residents to gain new skills or to help prepare to return to work. These courses include basic educational courses, such as Maths and English, including English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), to cooking and helping children with homework.

Pictured above are Phoebe, Debs, Jordan, Nicky, Andrew and Geir who attended one of our ACL cooking courses.

If you want to find out more about the wide range of free adult learning courses available please email the team or visit the website.

The owner of a grocery store in Broadgreen, which had the worst rat infestation ever seen by a council inspector, has been ordered to pay almost £30,000 by magistrates.

Muthu Kumaravelu, the sole director of India Bazzar (PVT) Ltd, 103 Broad Street, pleaded guilty to six breaches of food hygiene regulations at Swindon Magistrates Court last Friday (14 Feb).

The prosecution was brought against Mr Kumaravelu after his business was closed down for six weeks in November 2023 following a visit from the Council’s environmental health inspectors. Read more.

Over the past few weeks, volunteers have been sprucing up some of our green spaces. 

Working with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, through the Trees for Climate programme and partnerships on the Great Western Community Forest and Swindon Forest Meadows, tree planting has taken place in key parks and open spaces, including Shaw Forest Park, Mouldon Hill, and Moredon Meadows.

By the end of the current tree planting season, more than 50,000 trees will have been planted across Swindon since 2020 and the work couldn’t have been done without the Trust and the amazing volunteers.

There are still opportunities to volunteer with the trust on a number of programmes, including tree planting. Find out more.

Green Shoots is a voluntary group in North Swindon providing gardening support to vulnerable members of our community. Volunteers recently supported at a project in Pinehurst, helping an elderly lady who cannot get out into the garden anymore with a bit of tidying and weeding.

If you know of anyone needing support, or would like to volunteer, get in touch by emailing the team.

Smoking rates among people who work in trade sectors are nearly twice as high as the general population, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. 

That’s why we’re working with local employers, like Abbey Scaffolding, to bring the Swap to Stop initiative directly to workplaces through posters. 

What is Swap to Stop?

Swap to Stop is a free scheme helping adult smokers in Swindon quit by providing a free vape starter kit as part of a structured quit package. 

Vaping is at least 95 per cent safer than smoking, and using a vape with expert support makes smokers four times more likely to quit successfully.

A smoke free life means more energy, easier breathing, and improved heart health. Thinking about quitting? Look out for a poster near you or visit our website.

Crosslight Advice is running free, simple and effective money skills workshops to help you navigate everyday life.

These practical workshops help you make sense of your finances, even on a tight budget.

The next sessions are at Pattern Church (SN5 7LJ) starting on Thursday (27 Feb) and Thursday, 13 March, running from 12.30pm until 2.30pm. Sign up by calling 020 3540 5608 or by visiting the website.

Citizens Advice Swindon are also running a Financial Wellbeing Survey to find out how price increases for necessities, such as energy and food prices, are affecting your finances, health and wellbeing.

This work will help Citizens Advice Swindon to understand your views and will inform future priorities through their service and the Council’s Financial Wellbeing Strategy. Please complete the survey before 28 February.

Our Commissioning, Improvement and Assurance team has developed a draft strategy outlining our vision for the future of adult social care locally - focusing on choice, empowerment, and personalisation.

We’re inviting feedback during a two-week consultation until Friday, 28 February.

Read the draft strategy and share your views. A plain text version and an easy read version are available on our website.

The Council’s efforts to improve services, strengthen community engagement and its organisational culture, have caught the eye of judges in national local government awards.

The Council has been shortlisted in the prestigious 2025 LGC Awards, run by the Local Government Chronicle.

Open to all 317 local authorities in England, our entry for the ‘Most improved council’ category drew on feedback from residents, colleagues and the views of Ofsted and the Local Government Association to evidence progress in improving services, strengthening community engagement and our organisational culture.

The final winners will be announced on Wednesday, 11 June 2025.

Read more.

If you like reading Your Swindon, why not explore our other newsletters? 

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Visit our website to discover more and sign up for the updates that matter to you.