Swinton ward report 2020/21
Although the last year has been difficult and some projects have been affected by Government restrictions, we are proud of what has been achieved in the Swinton Ward in the last 12 months.
Covid 19 Response
During the Covid crisis Councillors in Swinton have assisted residents in many different ways. They have coordinated food deliveries, distributed essential items, TV’s, Easter gifts, educational resources, books, toys and much more. Working with a team of local volunteers vulnerable residents have been supported with telephone buddies, shopping support and prescription collections.
Raising Community Spirits
During the last year the Swinton Councillors have done all they can to keep community spirits up. This started last year with the Easter Bunny taking to the streets to give residents a wave. This was so well received that this Easter there will be two Easter Bunnies to increase the area that can be covered.
At Christmas Father Christmas took to walking the streets giving residents a wave as he and his elves went along their journey. Like with the Easter Bunny he was so well received by residents that to give more residents the opportunity to give Father Christmas a wave a second Farther Christmas was recruited.
Ward Budget - Capital Projects
This financial year the Swinton Ward Capital Budget of £10,000 has allowed for a number of projects to be completed for the benefit of the local community, these include:
Footpath improvement projects – With Government restrictions turning people to enjoying local walks the wards capital budget was used to enable two footpath improvements projects to take place. The first major project that was match funded by the Housing HUB budget enabled the upgrading of the footpath between Celandine Rise and Albany Road. This is a popular footpath that links to Highthorne Park. The second footpath improvement project enabled two entrances to Queen Street Park be improved so water no longer pools at the entrances as this was making access to the green spaces tricky to negotiate following bad weather.
St Margaret’s Church Clock – Sadly in 2020 the public clock in the tower of St Margaret’s Church stopped working. Residents missed both being able to check the time as they passed the Church and hearing the much loved clock chimes so the ward budget was able to provide match funding to complement a very generous donation from a local business Century Cladding to enable the purchase of a new mechanism to restore the clock to full working order.
War Memorial Wall – The rear wall to the Swinton War Memorial became a victim of stone theft recently. The ward capital budget has enabled the wall to be reinstated as we know how important the War Memorial site is to local residents.
Swinton Town Centre shrub bed improvements – It was noted that the shrub beds by the bus stop in Swinton Town Centre were in need of a new lease of life. The ward budgets has enabled work to be undertaken to cut back overgrown shrubs and provide slate to improve the look of the area and reduce weeds from growing in the future.
Reinstatement of the Kilnhurst Church Christmas Tree – the Swinton and Silverwood ward budgets enabled the purchase of new LED Christmas Lights for the Kilnhurst Christmas Tree that was funded by local business C T Butterfields Funeral Directors. The reinstatement of the Christmas tree brought a bit of cheer to the local community at a difficult time.
We would also like to thank the sponsor of the Woodman Christmas Tree Constant Security for their financial support to bring Christmas cheer to Swinton too.
Ward Budget - Revenue Projects
This year the Swinton Ward revenue budget of £4,450 has enabled the following projects to be delivered:
Sports Activities for Young People - Supporting young people to have the opportunities to get involved in sports activities has always been important in the Swinton Ward. Its taken a bit more planning this year but we are pleased that between lockdown restrictions last year we were able to provide activities during the October half term school holiday at a subsidised cost to local young people.
Litter picking equipment – Additional litter picking equipment has been purchased to support volunteers in their invaluable litter picking work throughout the ward.
Support for local community groups – Funding has been provided to local groups for Christmas gift projects, planting projects and Easter projects.
First Aid – community volunteers have had their first aid at work refresher training funded to enable first aid provision at community events in the future.
Support for School and Pre-School projects – funding has enabled Lego projects to be delivered and the purchase of outdoor play equipment.
Support for local sports club – funding has been provided to the Mexborough Rangers to enable them to improve the maintenance of their pitch in Swinton.
Financial support for Swinton’s food bank – funding has been provided to the food bank run by Swinton Lock Activity Centre to enable them to purchase items needed to support local families in need. Cookery books have also been purchased for a number of families accessing the food bank to help them cook tasty meals from their food parcels.
Housing HUB projects
This financial year the Housing HUB budget of £10,486 has enabled some excellent projects to be completed, a couple of examples of projects delivered are:
Street scene improvements – following requests from tenants of the Fitzwilliam Estate a project was undertaken to remove overgrown shrub beds on Beck Close, Lawrence Drive and Haythorne Way to improve the appearance of the streets.
Thomas Street play area improvements – The main climbing unit in the Thomas Street play needed some new parts to ensure it remained in good order for young people to play on. The budget enabled the improvements to be made.