Swindon’s ‘19 top tips’ set out the support available to residents to manage in the crisis. These include maximising income through benefits and other support schemes, making homes more energy efficient to reduce energy bills, and applying for various council payments if eligible. The top tips are on the council website and are also being shared through a borough-wide campaign through social media, leaflets, local media, council officers and wider partners.
Partners are keen to encourage people to take up all the benefits to which they are entitled. The Financial First Aiders programme builds on Swindon’s Making Every Contact Count approach and uses the principle that ‘finance is everybody’s business’. Training for front-line staff in brief interventions and signposting to further support is provided by Citizens Advice Swindon. Through inequality funding made available from the Bath and Northeast Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB, organisations like Citizens Advice and others can develop their work to support tackling health inequalities associated with the cost of living.
Local communities have a ‘can do’ attitude and people in Swindon are keen to help each other. Several community initiatives set up during the pandemic are helping.. The ‘Local Heroes programme’ focuses on connecting individuals and communities; local heroes have, for example, knitted blankets and draft excluders to be distributed.
The Community Connections group, which includes community leaders, elected members and faith leaders, were keen to get involved in cost of living support. This group meets to share local intelligence and hear from organisations about what is on offer to support local people.
So far, 30 community centres, libraries, churches and commercial businesses have signed up as warm and welcome spaces and it is likely that more will join. Public health provides a small amount of start-up funding for the spaces which offer other support including financial information and signposting. As visitors do not need to tell anyone why they are there, one of the challenges will be monitoring usage – all venues have been asked to provide approximate footfall which will be used for monitoring and future decisions.
The Feeding Swindon Partnership, affiliated to the Feeding Britain Network, was set up as a legacy of the collaborative work done throughout the pandemic to ensure the people of Swindon had access to food and support. The Feeding Swindon Partnership meets regularly to discuss demand, problem solve and co-ordinate the distribution of food and the associated financial and mental health support available across the town.
One of the partners is Swindon Food Collective, who are an independent, referral-based food bank that feeds nearly 7,500 people per year. The collective has added three distribution centres since the summer. Other organisations provide food, including a range of food pantries that do not require referrals. Over the summer the council trialled giving 60 lower income families energy efficient slow cookers – the pilot proved successful and further approaches to low-cost cooking are being developed.