10th March 2026
I am delighted to announce that Keep Swindon Tidy have been given a Pride of Swindon award. Additionally Xabi Leech and Heath Ridgewell, both young members of Keep Swindon Tidy were given Pride of Swindon awards for their outstanding efforts.
Keep Swindon Tidy has come into its own over the last couple of years. A great core team has developed which is working hard to make and consolidate changes to clean up the town. Thanks and congratulations to everyone who contributes to this positive and effective campaign!
Birds and Bees show interviews from the Pride of Swindon awards:
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Karen Leggett and and Toni Osborne of Keep Swindon.
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Jeremy Lune, CEO of Prospect Hospice and organiser of the Eastcott community litter pick.
We have recently been involved in the following meetings:
- Fly-tipping, litter and recycling: With Chris Watts, Borough Councillor for Waste and Transport.
- Development of a policy to deal with fly-tipping and litter: With Rosie Leather, South Swindon Parish Councillor.
- Tackling litter and fly-tipping issues emanating from HMOs: With Heidi Alexander, MP for South Swindon.
We welcome the fines and other measures which have recently been introduced by SBC to punish, and act as a deterrant, for fly-tipping. Fly-tipping can be reported on the Swindon Borough Council website. The new strategy to deal with it is to leave it in place. The council will then cordon off the fly-tipping whilst they investigate it. Fines are administered. This new process communicates with the public that the fly-tipping is not okay, which is already helping reduce instances of it.
One area of disagreement we have is regarding the cost of collecting large items, which is prohibitive for many who struggle to make ends meet. Pedestrians are unable to access the Household Waste and Recycling Centre. In other towns and cities there are measures in place to help reduce fly-tipping such as the use of lorries and skips. We will continue to work towards, and make the case for, universally accessible waste facilitation.
We started the year with a bang, quite literally, continuing our support for the SOS (Save Oasis Swindon) campaign. We litter picked before and after the event. And what an amazing, inspiring event it was!! A great start to the year for the SOS campaign and a beacon to the power of community.
KST members Chrisha, Hayley and Heath made local and national news through their efforts to remove graffit. Tagging is especially disliked locally, often considered an eyesore which can bring an area down.
With growing membership, additional picks, and a cumbersome Facebook events interface built with non-free software, we developed an events webpage. Plastic Free Swindon works hard to facilitate activities and be inclusive (a key tenet of equality), which includes the choice of software / services.
Upcoming events of note include a pick with Citifaith Church in the town centre, a community pick around Radnor Street and William Street, and Wroughton Parish Council's community pick as part of the Great British Spring Clean.
With governments and Big Tech working against our best interests (Examples: governments | Google | Microsoft), it's vital that we collectively act. Here are some suggested actions:
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Choose hardware and software carefully:
- Computers: Many computer vendors and manufacturers now support Linux out of the box. Computers which have Windows or macOS installed can have Linux installed to them. See our local campaign to help people transition.
- Software: Choose free open source software (FOSS) aka freedom software, opting into privacy-respecting software.
- Phones and tablets: Some phones and tablets which come with Android or iOS installed can have alternate operating systems such as LineageOS and IodeOS installed. Many cannot. Fairphone, Braxphone, SHIFT phone and UP phone all include exceptional security features and the ability to run free operating systems.
- Read and share this guide to "Digital Parenting" by Boudica Security / Cybershow UK.
- Sign this petition to keep Android open and this petition to stop Google limiting APK file usage.
For more information and support, contact Help Me IT.
At a full council meeting at the start of the year, we asked whether free open source software (FOSS) could and should be used for public services. Subseqently we discussed this with the council, citing extensive concerns about proprietary / non-free software and making the case for FOSS. Internally the council don't currently have the funds required to move away from Windows. However with public facing architecture, such as at libraries, it is a possibility to which the council seems receptive. Hence they have flagged this for review which will come after delivering the Swindon 2028 transformation programme.
We met with the borough council in February 2025 to ask them to get on board with our Plastic Free Communities campaign. We are asking the borough council to pass a motion containing these 3 points:
- The council will lead by example and remove single-use plastic items from its premises and operations.
- The council will encourage plastic-free initiatives in the area, promoting the campaign and supporting events.
- A representative of the council to be on the Plastic Free Community Steering Group.
After a positive meeting, we then heard nothing. We tried various avenues and are pleased to have now Councillor Leon Grother on our steering committee.
But over a year later and the motion still has not progressed. After speaking with the council, this emanates from a lack of capacity / austerity. So we will have to progress the Plastic Free Communities motion after the council elections.
We are in the process of writing to Swindon's Refill stations to let them know that, although the national scheme is no longer running, we will continue to run it locally. We are encouraging these businesses / organisations to sign up as Business Champions / Community Allies for the Plastic Free Communities campaign.
One way that we are encouraging participation in the Plastic Free Communities campaign and spreading key messages is through our Plastic-free pairs game. We will be at Swindon Philosophy Society, U3A Climate Change group, and Highworth Climate Friends. Please get in touch if you would like us to attend an event.
Everyone can sign up to our Plastic Free Communities campaign. We urge you to get involved in our town's collective plastic-free efforts!!
South Swindon Parish Council have employed a Community Development Officer to help find more volunteers for projects. Here is the programme up until the end of June:
Junk and Disorderly is a new zero waste art group based at the Swindon Hub run by Sue Lee. Creations are made from all kinds of littered items. There were some amazing, unusual creations in the first session! Junk and Disorderly is every second Tuesday of the month Hub from 2-4:30pm in the upstairs nook of the The Hub (next event is 10th March).
If you use online delivery services such as eBay and Amazon, how about writing to sellers to ask for sustainable packaging. I use eBay to buy second hand computer parts and have been writing to sellers. Generally it's been really positive, encouraging thought and change. Here's what I've been writing to sellers:
Hi there!
Please package sustainably (reused materials, brown paper, cardboard, string, tissue paper, brown paper tape).
My work is dealing with plastic pollution. It's vital for our health and that of the environment that we reduce plastic production!
Kind regards,
Ben
Our website library is well maintained thanks in part to Ruth Sumner and Gerry Hannon. We've added 3 new categories: nanoplastics, propaganda, and transport. Check out latest entries by date or by category.
That's it for this edition. A share would be appreciated.
Thank you everyone for your support and contributions!