The Crick Celebration Event
By Commonweal School Students:

Sam Cantlon, Emma Kennedy, Jack Dunn, Kemani Batt, Henry Wakelam
and Bianca Prinzi.

Web page designed by Henry Wakelam 22/10/08

In a discussion we came up with these following ideas about or likes and dislikes of Swindon.

Likes :

The history of Swindon, The Goddard and Lydiard families owning lots of Old Town.

Town Hall being a mark of Swindon, a large Victorian building used for dancing and Create Studios.

Lots of wildlife in parks and green areas.

Old Buildings from Victorian, Georgian and Edwardian times.

Parks / Open Spaces, there are a lot of them and they are used for many communal festivities and communal events.

Talent, lots of competitions for performing arts which create opportunities and a great start for life.

Radio, we have lots of radio stations for different kinds of people in Swindon, also in Commonweal there is a school radio which presents even more chances in life for radio presentation

Schools, we have lots of good schools in Old Town, we also have good activities involving the feeder schools with Commonweal.

M4 we have a close access to Junctions 15 and 16 which means we can get quick access too the M4 so we can get to London, Bristol and goes across the Severn Bridge to finish in Wales quickly.

The Outlet Village is a great shopping centre that alongside the Swindon town centre offers shopping and jobs to a wide catchment area of the population in and around Swindon.

In Swindon we have many facilities to entertain and occupy all different age ranges of Swindon.

We have a very multi-cultural community so we get a real feel of the world.

In Swindon we have a lot of swimming pools and clubs which provide lots of sporting opportunities.

The New Library is a brilliant improvement to the town as it is a good education facility for the community.

We have a good selection of museums as Swindon is a historical place.

Our great history of trains makes Swindon famous for our locomotives of the past. Also the Outlet Village is the original site for the old railway works.

In Swindon we have many different types of youth groups ranging from media activities to government funded organizations such as Army, Sea and Air Cadets.

Dislikes and improvements:

Loitering - More signposting for facilities

2 Ice skating rinks rather than 1

Swindon is stereotyped as being "Boring" , we need to change peoples perceptions of the town and explaining that Swindon isnt a city so shouldnt be compared to cities, like Oxford, Bristol, Bath and London.

Abandoned Buildings - need to be preserved rather than knocked down

Not enough money into youth services

Oasis - cheaper tickets, easier transport

More affordable housing

Cheaper leisure entry - Swindon Card cheaper rates and extended hours

Bigger parks to enable more festivals

Clean Coate water to make it suitable for swimming again

More Recycling in sense of using the recycled items in artworks etc

Transport - Trams brought back in to make transport cheaper and less congestion and more frequent running.

How can young people get there point across:

Young people can make changes in society in many different ways such as, Internet forums, petitions, emails, voluntary organisations, letters to your MP.

Also everyone can make a change every day by clearing things off the ground where there is rubbish instead of leaving it, or by not dropping it in the first place!

Suggested activities for 14 - 17 year olds:

In Swindon many teenagers are often accused for loitering and standing having nothing to do, when in fact there arent many activities for people to actually go to, which are free or reasonably priced and accessible. The borough should have a discussion on this topic to decide points for this problem. However to put some ideas forward ourselves we discussed using a brainstorm and this is what we came up with:

Media Club

Youth Clubs

More use of community centres

More sportsclubs

Skateparks

Encourage more parents to volunteer

More sports centres and facilities

Dancing

Music

More Concerts

Work experience

And finally a consultation with young people to find out what people want