Page 10 - link magazine

10 swindonlink.com • March 2012
Win a signed Swindon Town FC shirt and support Hop Skip and Jump

Whether you can get a ticket to sup- a British football team. They will be
port Swindon Town at Wembley or signed by members of the current
not, you can still support Hop Skip Wembley bound squad.
and Jump respite care centre for There are also consolation prizes
children with severe disabilities and of single shirts.
life threatening illness by entering a Draw tickets are available from 1
draw to win one of 9 complete STFC March to 13 April. The cost is just
away kits from 2009/10. £1 each and are available from the
The shirts carry the EA Sports Hop Skip and Jump Centre, Up-
logo, which represent football his- per Shaw Farm, Ridge Green. Tel:
tory as it was the first time an elec- 07557 435012.
tronics games company sponsored www.hopskipandjump.org.uk
Left, HSJ staff and volunteers Christina Blackmore, Caroline Shepherd, Katie
Cavanagh, Michael Lowe and Kelly Givens with Steve Eadie and Kelly Dunn
and their children Dalziel, Dior and Noah

Farewell to community service after nearly three decades
A casualty of Swindon Council’s staff reduction programme is Pam Pixton, 62, from Freshbrook, who has left after almost 30 years’ service.
Starting in 1983 as caretaker of the feeling of isolation. At one there were
community room at Freshbrook Pri- two new ladies who discovered they
mary School, she became well known were next door neighbours. They
in West Swindon as Thamesdown became very good friends.”
Council’s Arrivals Officer Pam went on to have numerous
Pam explained: “A normal day was community development roles with
tramping around building sites in a plethora of titles and job descrip-
bright red wellies, looking for signs tions within Thamesdown and then
of occupancy, then I’d knock on the Swindon Borough Council. Pam is
door and provide information about sad to leave but proud of her achieve-
the area. ments. “I’ve always been involved
“I set up coffee mornings at the Link working with people in communities.
Centre for new arrivals which were I have some wonderful memories -
a great success. It gave newcomers particularly West Swindon. It has
the chance to meet others who had been more than a job - more a way of Pam, centre right, and Jo Laing, centre, who was also let go by the council,
recently moved in and to lessen the life and I shall really miss it.” saying goodbye to members of the Toothill drop-in

Equality Coalition making public toilets
a bigger concern for all
Professor gets to the bottom of pressing questions
Public toilets are a subject of inter-
est to everybody, but it’s not a much
talked about in public.
But on 26 March Dr Clara Greed,
Emeritus Professor of inclusive ur-
ban planning at the University of the
West of England Bristol, right, has
been invited to talk at the Swindon
Equality Coalition about the unequal
and inadequate provision of public
toilets, and how they are a low pri-
ority for high-level policy makers.
If you are passionate about Equality and want to Dr Greed was originally a town From a disability perspective
make Swindon a more equal place please support the planner but got involved in the inaccessible, inadequate and limited
‘social aspects of planning.’ She has levels of provision for those with
Annual General Meeting undertaken a range of research on disabilities, reduces the chances of
people getting out and about, work-
questions of equality, diversity,
Monday 26th March, 5pm to 7pm gender, and accessibility, but has ing, travelling and living their lives.
From an environmental perspec-
Park South Community Centre concentrated on one key issue in tive, public toilets are the missing
recent years, namely public toilet
Cranmore Ave, Swindon, SN3 2ES provision, as ‘all human life is there.’ link in terms of creating sustainable
From a gender perspective inad- cities, as if the government wants
Keynote speaker: Dr Clara Greed, equate and unequal toilet provision people to get out of their cars and
Emeritus Professor of Inclusive Urban Planning, for women in the workplace, and in back on to public transport, then
University of the West of England places of entertainment, sport and accessible, decent public toilets are
retail activity, all contribute to long needed at all transport hubs and
For more information please contact us: queues, reduced productivity and locally for all those walking and
poor health amongst women. cycling.
Unequal toilet provision for See details of the coalition AGM
women is one of the last frontiers to and Dr Greed’s talk in the advert on
be conquered. the left.

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