Could you, your child or your pupils do something nice for residents living in care homes?

We are asking as many people as possible to get involved with our Care Mail initiative. All you need to do is write a letter, or draw a picture for those living in care homes during these difficult times.

You could send them a diary entry of your experience of lockdown, a picture of a flower growing in your garden or a short story you’ve been working on. Whatever you can think of to put smiles on their faces.

Once you’ve finished you can send through your amazing creations to Care Mail, Communications Team, Swindon Borough Council, Civic Offices, Swindon, SN1 2JH. We will make sure as many residents as possible receive letters.

*All letters will be stored for 72 hours before being shared with vulnerable residents

Earlier this week the Government issued guidance to help councils consider the safe partial re-opening of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs).

We’re now carefully planning how and when we can partially open the HWRC in Swindon, taking into account a number of important considerations.

1. We need to prioritise the safety of staff and visitors on site, ensuring social distancing guidelines are maintained. This will require strictly-controlled access and a limited number of vehicles on site at any time.

2. Swindon has only one, large HWRC serving the whole borough, with a single point of road access – so traffic management measures need to be carefully planned to reduce the impact on local residents, businesses and visitors and other Council services that use the site like waste collections.

3. To minimise demand to enable us to provide a safe service, we will be asking residents to only visit the HWRC if their waste or recycling cannot be stored safely at home or disposed of through the Council’s various waste collection services (e.g. bulky waste, kerbside recycling).

Thanks for your understanding as we plan this partial re-opening in the safest way possible.

We’ll share further updates next week.

Tomorrow (8 May) the nation will mark the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the end of the Second World War and at 11am there will be a two minute silence.

Due to the on-going pandemic, celebrations this year should take place in the comfort of your own home but there are still lots of ways you can get involved.

• Our Local Studies Flickr account has over 6,000 photographs documenting Swindon throughout history
• Download bunting and posters to print at home
• A VE Day live stream from 11:15am 
• English Heritage has released a party pack containing 1940s recipes, a playlist from the era and dancing tips
• Hear the stories of soldiers and evacuees with the National Literacy Hub
• Ancestry is available to the public for free until Sunday, 10 May to enable families to discover their past

Reminder- please do not host street parties this year, if you see a street party taking place, report it to the police. Please avoid visiting the cenotaph.

Our waste teams are working hard to ensure your collections run as normal.

• Our crews are working through the bank holiday tomorrow (Friday), if it is your collection day please put your waste out as usual.
• If you have large pieces of furniture you want to dispose of, why not book a bulky waste collection?
• Our garden waste service is operating as normal, sign up to become a garden waste subscriber
• Download our Thank You key workers colouring poster to display on your bin
• See our daily report of waste and recycling collections
• Our crews are working tomorrow (Friday). Collections will continue as normal. 
• If you have symptoms of COVID-19 please follow this advice.

We've delivered more than 700 food parcels to those who need them. 

If you need help accessing emergency food parcels, household supplies or help picking up prescriptions please read this information on how we can help you.

You can also call Customer Services on 01793 445500 from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm or email customerservices@swindon.gov.uk

Swindon-based car dealership Dick Lovett has gone into overdrive to help our care leavers. The car dealership has generously donated food for us to distribute to young people who have previously been in our care.

The best way that we can all support the NHS and help keep everyone safe, is to stay at home and avoid all unnecessary travel this bank holiday weekend.

While our parks will remain open in line with government guidance, please be reminded this is for outdoor exercise ONLY. Do not drive to visit our parks.

• Avoid all non-essential travel: the car parks at our country parks are closed until further notice.
• Do not visit our parks for sunbathing, picnics, games, barbecues or social gatherings.
• Please follow strict social distancing rules and keep 2m apart.
• The Swindon Travel Choices website has many cycling maps available to download plus a handy guide on how to do some basic bike maintenance.

Season tickets and leases for car parking spaces that were valid on 24 March will be eligible for a free 12-week extension.

Any season tickets with an expiry date within 12 weeks of 24 March (and which have not been renewed) the extension period will match the equivalent number of days left between 24 March and the expiry date. Find out more.

This weekend, a northbound section of the A419 will be closed.

The closure is necessary to allow a new slip road to be built from the White Hart roundabout onto the A419.

This is a major part of the New Eastern Villages (NEV) road improvement scheme which will see big upgrades made to the roads east of Swindon.

The A419 northbound will be closed between the White Hart roundabout and the Turnpike junction (by Abbey Stadium) from 8pm on Saturday, 9 May to 6am Sunday, 10 May.

The road will then be opened before being closed again from 8pm on Monday, 11 May to 6am on Tuesday, 12 May.

The work is being undertaken at night to reduce the impact and a diversion will be in place throughout the closures.

This work is essential for the planned highways improvements which will help to enable the New Eastern Villages development. The team will strictly adhere to COVID-19 government guidelines while carrying out this work.

Get the latest road works and major road improvement news directly to your inbox by signing up to the Highways Newsletter.

There's over 600 pieces of Modern Art in Swindon Museum and Art Gallery's collection. As part of the Art on Tour project, each week Project Engagement Officer Katie discusses three pieces of work on YouTube, giving you the opportunity to experience our collection from home. This weeks theme is conflict. Listen here

Help for vulnerable residents to access food and prescription

How the Council is supporting residents and businesses

How you can support yourself and your community

Latest status of all council services

Advice and support for businesses