August 2019
Swindon Civic Voice needs YOU!
‘Citizens who care are the best guardians
of the settlements in which they live’
Barbara Ward
Swindon Civic Voice is a registered charity, run by volunteers, that works under the umbrella of the national civic voice organization. And Swindon Civic Voice needs you!
Civic Voice groups up and down the land seek to make the places they live in more attractive, enjoyable and distinctive. And Swindon Civic Voice is no exception. They and we promote civic pride and celebrate what’s great in our community.
In 2108, the GWR railway village conservation area won a competition organised through Civic Voice to find the nation’s favourite conservation area. In this post you can learn more about that.
Presentation of the conservation area award at Central Community Centre
In winning that competition, thanks to a groundswell of public support, the railway village beat such conservation areas as Lichfield and Port Sunlight.
This stunning victory for Swindon Civic Voice and the Railway Village played a key role in helping Swindon Borough council to obtain funding from Historic England to designate this conservation area a Heritage Action Zone.
See: https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/heritage-action-zones/swindon/
And here’s an interesting guest blog from Martin Newman about Swindon’s listed buildings list.
Aims of the HAZ
The aim of the HAZ is to promote economic growth and improve the quality of life in the area with an overall investment of £7.6m over the next five years. Crucially, it also includes plans to restore the Mechanics’ Institute. The HAZ is Swindon’s best – probably last chance to address this particular issue. One that is dear to many a Swindonian heart.
We’ve achieved a lot – but we’d like to do more …
… and that’s where you come in.
We trust you’ve got the idea by now that we’re an active and positive organization.
There’s so much going on in the town that a strong civic society, standing apart from party politics, is vital if we are to have any chance of influencing planning proposals and helping to shape the town’s future. Can you support us?
For other examples of what we’ve been doing in recent years, see also our Civic Day 2018 review: https://www.swindoncivicvoice.org.uk/2019/06/civic-day-2019-review/
and the Swindon Civic Voice circulation study.
Can you help us?
Can you volunteer a few hours a month to work with us? We could really use someone to help organise events. And some admin support would be good. Amongst other things.
Can you be a member?
Okay. So you’d like to support us but you really, really, really don’t have any spare time for active involvement. We get it! We know – we do know.
But you can still help us. How? By being a member that’s how. Your membership support is crucial in helping us to keep going.
Running organisations cost money. We apply for grants where we can. Some we get – some we don’t. But it’s grants, volunteer time and membership subscriptions that keeps us going.
So – if you’re time poor but can spare £6 a year we’d love to hear from you!
Find out how to become a member of Swindon Civic Voice here: https://www.swindoncivicvoice.org.uk/membership-2/
Thank you!
