Made in Swindon: a social history. 1840s-1940s. Edited by Philip Garrahan – a new book that I must flag up to you all. It’s a superb addition to the Swindon literary canon that is for sure.
Made in Swindon book – edited by Philip Garrahan
The book is a collaborative effort with chapters contributed from:
Adam Busby – Adam grew up in Swindon and he wrote his undergraduate dissertation on the GWR Medical Fund society.
Graham Carter – retired journalist and a proud Swindonian born and bred.
Philip Garrahan – a social scientist. He taught in four English universities and after completing his doctorate at Reading. He’s researching the contributions of art to social history.
Harry Lewis – another proud Swindonian (and why not?) with a family history intertwined with the fortunes of the Works.
John Stooke – a Swindonian to his marrow. In 1871, John’s grandfather migrated to Swindon from Devon for secure and better paid industrial work. John lectures on local history on a regular basis and is involved with the committees of many local societies. Having lost two children to poor mental health, in 2002 he set up (and Chairs at the present time) a successful community health support charity, The Kelly Foundation.
Panto 2025 Cast Announced. Imagine Theatre and the Wyvern Theatre announce that popular professional quizzer and performer, The Chase’s Jenny Ryan, will star in the Wyvern’s popular annual family pantomime Sleeping Beauty.
Joining Jenny, playing Wicked Fairy Carabosse, will be Swindon’s much loved favourite Dame, David Ashley. And award-nominated comedy actor Ben Goffe. He’s hot off the heels of recent nomination for as ‘Best Comic’ in the UK Pantomime Association Awards. That was for his appearance as Buttons in last year’s pantomime Cinderella.
In 2015 Jenny joined the hallowed team of Chasers on ITV’s award-winning teatime hit The Chase. That’s now in its fifteenth series. Nicknamed ‘The Vixen’ and ‘The Bolton Brainiac’ by host Bradley Walsh, you can also see Jenny in the prime time spin-off series Beat the Chasers for ITV1. She’s a regular guest on Fighting Talk on BBC Radio 5 Live and has appeared on many other favourites. They include:
Would I Lie to You?
Celebrity MasterChef
Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
Blankety Blank and Celebrity Catchphrase.
Panto 2025 Cast Announced
Jenny Ryan
A talented singer and musician, Jenny and her fellow Chasers won BBC1’s Let’s Sing & Dance for Comic Relief . With Jenny making to to the final of The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019.
Of her debut on the Swindon stage Jenny says: ‘I’m thrilled to be at Swindon this Christmas to appear in Sleeping Beauty. I’ve heard how wonderful Wyvern Theatre audiences are. I can’t wait to get started. I know that we’re going to have a lot of panto fun. And I look forward to hearing everyone booing loudly!’
Swindon panto royalty David Ashley’s career has seen him perform across the West End in shows such as Cats, Les Miserables, Blood Brothers and many more. Back for his twelfth year in panto at the Wyvern David says he’s ‘Over the moon’ to return. And adds ‘the audiences in Swindon always feel like my extended family. And I cannot wait to get started with all the brilliant panto fun in Sleeping Beauty alongside Jenny and Ben.’
Panto dame extraordinare David Ashley
Ben Goffe has most recently been performing in West End show The Choir of Man. Alongside his may stage appearances in panto and with the National Theatre, the RSC and ENO Ben’s also appeared in TV and film :
Hapless
Big Brother’s Big Mouth
The Friday Night Project
Artemis Fowl
AmStarDam and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Ben tells us: ‘The audiences in Swindon were so welcoming last year. I had such a wonderful time appearing in Cinderella. So I’m thrilled to be returning to the Wyvern to appear in Sleeping Beauty. It’s going to be a lot of fun!’
Ben Goffe in panto at the Wyvern theatre
Imagine Theatre
Imagine Theatre are once again panto producers. They’re bringing this much-loved fairytale to life, packed with all your fave panto ingredients. It promises to be the perfect magical fun-filled family treat full of sparkle and spectacle.
Laura James, the Theatre Director at the Wyvern Theatre said: ‘We’re thrilled to have Jenny joining us this panto season! Jenny is a fantastic performer and perfect for the role of Carabosse. I know our team and all our wonderful Swindon audiences will make her feel welcome. And with the legendary pairing of David Ashley and Ben Goffe to share the stage with, it’s going to be one incredible show!’
When the wicked fairy Carabosse’s evil curse causes the Princess Beauty to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into an enchanted sleep, can anyone rescue her from the magical slumber before it’s too late?
Sleeping Beauty will run from 06 December 2025 to 04 January 2026. Make memories this festive season with this spellbinding magical family pantomime.
Finance Company Supports Charities. Local Finance company Southby & Co Financial Planning are supporting several Wiltshire charities. That’s all thanks to a £5,000 gift which came from winning a prestigious industry award.
Recently, Southby & Co Financial Planning, based in Wroughton, near Swindon, won St. James’s Place (SJP) Responsible Business of the Year. St James’ place gives the award to businesses that are supporting and caring for their clients and their environment. And being responsible for the role their business plays in their relevant community.
With this award, came a £5,000 pot for the winners to donate at their discretion.
Finance Company Supports Charities – Dave Southby with Dawn Prosser of Swindon Night Shelter
Dave Southby, founder of Southby & Co Financial Planning, said, ‘We wanted to distribute the money from our win to as many charities as possible. Our company is community-focused. And we have done many events to push certain charities into the limelight as our company grows.’
We decided to support a range of charities that mean a lot to myself and the staff. And to support a specific project for their overall mission,’ he continued. ‘We can’t wait to hand over that money and then see the impact it will have for the people who access them.’
The recipients
The charities who will be beneficiaries of this ‘gift’ are:
Dave and the team plan to do more fundraising this year. And this win has already helped them to help more local good causes.
Swindon Night Shelter is one of those charities. It supports those who are homeless or in vulnerable housing in the town.
Dawn Prosser, of Swindon Night Shelter, said: ‘We’re so thrilled to receive this support from Dave and his team. It makes such a difference. We’ve been able to buy tons of compost for the garden and also put money towards a new green house for this particular project.’
Dave and his team work with individuals, families and business owners across Swindon and Wiltshire, helping them manage their finances effectively and plan for the future.
Pipp & Co Vegan Doughnut. Doughnut makers Pipp & Co have launched a vegan doughnut to ensure plant-based food lovers don’t miss out on their delicious treats.
The artisan bakery has added vegan mixed berry doughnuts to its range. The move comes in response to growing demand from customers looking for a plant-based alternative.
With an estimated 2.5 million vegans in the UK (4.7 per cent of the adult population), and the numbers continuing to grow, Pipp & Co wanted to ensure they appealed to all markets.
Pipp & Co Vegan Doughnut
Strict criteria
The new vegan doughnut still meets the baker’s strict criteria of using only natural ingredients, with no artificial additives or preservatives. As with the rest of the range, there are no hydrogenated fats, no palm oils, or GMOs.
Pipp & Co make all their own oat milk from scratch, giving them full control over quality and sourcing. This extra step reflects their hands-on approach and dedication to doing things the right way.
Mario Evangelista, who co-runs Pipp & Co with his wife Betina, said part of the reason for creating a vegan doughnut was to help with sustainability.
Plant-based butter produces 82% less CO₂ and uses 97% less water than regular butter,” he said. ‘That hit home. It’s such a simple swap, but it makes a big difference.’
Even the sugar dust on top of the doughnuts, a by-product of the berries Pipp & Co use, helps reduce waste and minimise environmental impact.
Betina Evangelista said the vegan doughnut took a couple of months to develop.
Proving popular
‘Customers are loving the vegan doughnut as it has no flavour difference to our existing well-loved products,’ she said. ‘We had to develop the product alongside our normal production – we went through several trials to arrive at a recipe we were confident in and proud of.
‘We’ve replaced ingredients like fresh cream, eggs, and unsalted butter with vegan alternatives such as oat milk and vegan butter. We also used soya flour and oats in the formulation. All with some ingredients that remain consistent with our traditional recipe.’
Unlike many vegan doughnuts, which can be dry or too dense, Pipp & Co’s vegan mixed berry doughnut maintains the same soft, rich texture as their traditional brioche-based originals. That’s thanks to their careful 24-hour fermentation and three-stage proving process.
The new vegan doughnut is proving popular, even among non-vegans. In blind taste tests with the Pipp & Co team, 57% preferred the vegan version. Plans are now in the pipeline to add other vegan doughnuts to go with the mixed berry option.
Pipp & Co doughnuts and other products are available through stockists from Reading to Oxford, and from Stroud to Bristol.
Pipp & Co produces more than 20,000 doughnuts a week from its Swindon factory. They also opened their first café in Bristol last year, with plans for outlets in other locations in the future.
Politicians Join Longevity Games. Two MPs, several Swindon councillors and hundreds of locals are throwing their weight behind a new wellbeing event. The organiser hopes it’ll turn Swindon into the fittest town in the country.
Tim Howe is the founder of the Longevity Games. It’s inspired by the success of an informal meet-up he started during lockdown. One where people started coming along and training alongside one another outdoors.
Trialled twice last year, with five events taking place during 2025, the Longevity Games are open to people who want to start to get fit, or test their fitness, with no pressure to compete against anyone other than themselves. ‘Your pace not a race’ is the philosophy.
Politicians Join Longevity Games – Tim Howe’s Longevity Games
Tim, a fitness enthusiast whose day job is selling forklift trucks, said: ‘The life expectancy of people is eighty-one. Yet the health expectancy is sixty-three which means people are living with illness for the last 20 years of their life, which are preventable. I want to build a template here in Swindon to prove that if you bring people together to be more active and more inclusive, you can change a community. I want to make Swindon the fittest and strongest town in the country.’
Last September’s Longevity Games included Swindon North MP Will Stone. And Swindon South MP Heidi Alexander was a guest at the games in February. The next Longevity Games – planned for May 18 at Swindon Harriers Athletic Track – will feature several Swindon councillors, including Swindon Borough Council Leader Cllr Jim Robbins.
Tester event
Tim said: ‘We did a tester event in May last year, and our first full event in September. The first was pulling in friends, family and anyone who wanted a go. Lots of them then came back for the next ‘proper’ event. When we ran the games in February, we had 103. And signups are even better for May with 140 signed up. It’s blown my mind. To go from nothing to where we are going, is super humbling.’
Tim, 51, who’s married Lee, with two children, has always been into his fitness. His interests range from running and gym, to triathlon, long-distance cycling and fitness events.
But Tim, from North Swindon, could see the fitness events he was taking part in were very commercial focused. They had prohibitive entrance fees, as well as a strong competitive element, which can put people off.
He wanted instead to deliver an inclusive event, that anyone could come along to, without feeling intimidated or breaking the bank.
I’ve aimed the Longevity Games at people of all ages and levels of fitness. Events include:
running or walking
lunge walks
burpee jumps and squats … and participants can choose from three categories – novice, intermediate and proficient.
A non-scary environment
‘I wanted to create an environment that’s not scary. But one that’s fun, and where people want to come back, and next time bring along their friends. It’s all about investing in yourself to reap the rewards that will come. Participants can be as competitive as they wish – or not at all. There are no timing chips, so no pressure.’
Tim’s vision is for the Longevity Games to have a far-reaching and positive effect on the health of people in the town. At every event he invites other sports and fitness clubs to come along and promote themselves. That way participants can see what’s available and find inspiration to carry on their fitness. He’s also hoping GPs will refer patients to the Longevity Games as part of a fitness plan.
He already has other towns asking him to duplicate the Longevity Games and there’s even interest from the United States.
Tim Howe taking part in the Longevity Games
After the May event, there are three more Longevity Games planned for this year:
