All systems go for Swindon’s Famous Duck Race

By Barrie Hudson barrie@positive-media.co.uk

Momentum and excitement is growing for the approaching 2023 annual Rotary Club of Swindon Old Town Duck race.

Known as Swindon’s Famous Duck Race, it will be held on Bank Holiday Monday, 29 May.

There will also be an associated dog show, organised by Lucy Pet Carer and Red Lodge Canine Splash, along with many other activities, charity stalls and refreshments, and a good family day out is promised.

It will take place as usual at the Westcott Recreation Ground, opposite the Runner Pub, as it has done for the past 20 plus years, and preparations are well under way.

There will be three race categories - a Sponsored Business Drake Race, the Schools’ Duck Race and the biggest race, the main Duck Race.

The fun events will run from 11am to 4pm, with all welcome to attend.

Tickets are on sale at £1 a duck. The winning duck ticket holder will receive £1000 and there will be six runners up prizes of £100 each.

All money raised from the event will be donated to a range of well-deserving charities.

This is the club’s biggest annual fundraiser for charities.

Admission is free, and all are welcome to come and join in the fun.

Veteran Swindon Festival of Literature organiser steps down

Stalwart promoter of arts and culture Matt Holland has confirmed that the 30th Swindon Festival of Literature was his last as organiser.

He announced his decision in a speech during the finale of this year’s festival, which was by turns poignant and light-hearted.

Mr Holland, pictured here at a previous festival, has organised it since it began, and in the early days some commentators wrongly doubted that such an event could ever be successful.

He said: “What I am about to say next might commonly be called a resignation speech.

“As things stand, next year the Swindon Festival of Literature as we have known it, all the way from Dawn Chorus to a Festival Finale, will not be organised by me.

“It is, I think, time for me to hang up my organiser’s hat.”

He added:

“Notwithstanding the fact that it’s been a brilliant festival this year, for which I thank you all for your help and support, and even though running and organising a festival is not the hardest job in the world, nothing like, say, being a King, or harder still, being a mother, I have occasionally felt ever-widening cracks appearing in my ageing and formerly impenetrable armour.”

Mr Holland now plans to spend more time with his growing grand-family, put his massive collection of books in order - and perhaps make some of his own writing ready for publication.

A major focus will be on working to help up-andcoming Swindon authors at the acclaimed Lower Shaw Farm arts venue.

Fairford Book Fest to welcome Dom Joly, Paul Martin and more

The Fairford Festival Book Fest is set to be a best seller across 9 and 10 June, with another line up of popular authors, children’s authors and TV stars.

It is being held in a marquee at the ground of the Fairford Cricket Club (GL7 4JJ), along with its own book shop.

Tickets are priced at £4 per child and £10 per adult.

Information and a programme can be found at fairfordfestival.org.uk/ fairford-book-fest

Buckhurst Family Fun Day to return in June

The free Buckhurst Family Fun Day will be held again this year on Saturday 3 June from 11am - 4pm at Buckhurst Field.

There will be music, dance and gymnastic performances, a magic show, skateboard and scooter workshops, inflatables, a youth zone with fete games, a raffle, balloon modelling and more.

Brighter Futures Family Fun Day set for this August

A fundraising fun day event will be held by Brighter Futures on Sunday 6 August at the Coleview Community Centre, between noon and 5pm.

Members of the public are invited to attend and help raise money for GWH’s Dove Unit cancer patient garden. Donations can also be made online at brighterfutures.enthuse. com/pf/nicola-knightly

2023 marks local funeral service’s 100th anniversary

By Jessica Durston

Hillier Funeral Services’ first funeral dates back to 1923. It has remained a familyrun company since, now in its fourth generation.

The company was set up by Harold Hillier when he turned his hand to funerals after the Great Depression. He also ran a building company.

An office was set up in Victoria Road. Coffins were prepared by hand from butts of oak and elm and the first motor hearse was bought in 1933.

Harold’s son Michael joined the business in 1944, and took control when Harold retired in 1952. Michael (now 96) still takes a keen interest in the business and conducts the occasional funeral.

Michael’s son Mark joined the business in 1980, building on the family tradition of providing a professional caring service. He moved the main office from 55 Victoria Road to 170 Victoria Road in 1993. He also established Hilliers’ unique Bereavement Care service and extended and modernised the chapels at The Broadway.

In 2014, Mark’s daughter Rebecca (pictured with Michael and Mark) joined the business. Looking at the ever-changing funeral industry, she has adapted the business’ ways of working to best suit the needs of clients, and constantly looks to improve their services.

She said: “One thing that has remained constant throughout the 100 years, is the service we provide to families which has made us a firmly established and integral part of the community. In the last five years we have opened our Highworth branch, moved our head office to Kingshill House, as well as making improvements to our website, internal systems, products and the services we offer.”

To celebrate their centenary, the team decided to set up ‘The Hillier Community Fund’ which aims to support local charities. As a business Hillier’s will put £1,000 into the fund for every year they have been running, and year on year, will continue to add to the fund.

They made the first donations from the fund at their centenary dinner in May.

Promise that £7.5m Newbridge Square project will be sustainable

FI Real Estate Management and project partners Loop Interiors and Alphacello have outlined their top 10 sustainability goals for 1 Newbridge Square in Swindon.

The project’s key sustainability goals include: A BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) Excellent Rating, Life Cycle Carbon Assessment, Fitwel accreditation, Low Zero Carbon PV Installation, An EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) A rating, local procurement of low carbon materials where possible, reusing strip-out materials to avoid waste, highly efficient LED lighting and onsite EV charging and cycle storage.

Dominic Knowles, Head of Offices at FI Estate Management, said: “Our vision for the building is to deliver a healthy, resilient, and positive place for people to work, built responsibly, showcasing leadership.

“We want to leverage the project’s sustainability strategy, and decarbonize the refurbishment of the building to create a climatepositive asset.”

1 Newbridge Square will create a total of 100,000sqft of high-quality grade A office space, with flexible floorplates available up to 24,000sqft.

Work is due to be completed by the end of this year.

Cushman & Wakefield, Loveday, and Smethurst are acting as joint agents for the office space.

More info can be found at fi-rem.com/property/1newbridge-square/

Art exhibition at local library a celebration of children’s creativity

By Lucia Kenna

An exhibit of art from Blue Kite Academy Trust pupils can be viewed at North Swindon Library.

The exhibition features pieces from local children from various schools in the Trust, all inspired by the word ‘Journey’. It will run until 5 June.

The art projects use varying forms of media, from sculptures and digital art to watercolours and collages. The event was attended by North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson, children’s author and illustrator, Neil Griffiths and Judith Blake, and the young artists themselves. All 11 schools within the Blue Kite Trust contributed, resulting in a brilliant collection of work spanning five year groups. A speech was given by

Dan Clarke, Executive Headteacher of Brookfield Primary School, who thanked the staff and the children, praised them for their creativity, before handing over to children’s author Neil Griffiths, who spoke about the inspiration behind the theme of the exhibit, and about his book, ‘The Journey’. He ended his address with a promise to drop a copy of his book to every school in the Trust.

Gary Evans, CEO of the Blue Kite Academy Trust, said: “All of these children that have worked on the exhibition are now published artists. Their work is displayed here in a public place for people to come and have a look. This not only drives their confidence, but their skill level too.

“Some of these young artists are five years old, some are seven, some are 11, so you’ve got a number of different skill levels. They’ve also used a variety of different mediums to express themselves.

“We’re looking forward to doing many more things like this.”

Michelle Drew, Library Manager, said: “I hope we at North Swindon Library, can host events like this every year. You can see how hard all the children have worked and the artwork is amazing and really varied. I have been most impressed by all the different techniques the young artists have used.

“We would love to see as many people as possible coming into the library to see the exhibition, and we hope to work with Blue Kite Trust again.”