This evening I have the pleasure of attending the launch of the first ever Highworth Literature and Arts Festival.
The event has been organised by the team at Visit Highworth – who do a fantastic job of promoting Highworth and highlighting everything the town has to offer.
The aim of the Art and Literacy Festival is to showcase the work of a number of different artists and writers. As part of the event there will be an exhibition of artwork in St Michael’s & All Angel’s churches featuring local artists. The works cover a variety of mediums including paintings, sculptures, and photography.
In addition to this, author Neil Griffiths will be giving a talk on “The Power of Reading - The Role of Adults in developing Children’s Love of Reading.” As many will know encouraging young people to read is an issue which I am passionate about, so I am very pleased that that the Literature and Arts Festival is giving a platform to such a much loved local author who has done so much work in promoting literacy for children.
The wonderful Bert’s Books is also hosting an event with New York Times bestselling author Jasper Fforde to discuss his work and take questions from the audience – another brilliant example of the important role independent bookshops play in their local community.
There will be so much more to discover at the festival, which runs from 9am to 4pm tomorrow - so be sure to see the Visit Highworth website to find out more!
Last week I was delighted to join the Headstart Skillz summer camp at Kingsdown School.
Headstart Skillz is a local initiative which provides practical training covering a number of skills, including managing money, online safety, self-defence, first aid, nutrition, wellbeing and mental health. The idea behind Headstart Skillz is that by teaching young people practical subjects you will help to give them a significant head start in life.
As part of this work Headstart Skillz joined with Draycott Sports Camp to hold summer camps which combine a mixture of sports activities and learning opportunities.
Promoting an active and healthy lifestyle to children is an issue which is hugely important to me and which I have spoken about many times in Parliament, so I was very interested to see the work Headstart Skillz are doing.
Also visiting the summer camp was Headstart Skillz ambassador and Swindon Town Legend Charlie Austin to teach the youngsters some new skills and took part in a Q&A. It was brilliant to see Charlie take the time to work with the children and how excited they were to meet him.
Both within Swindon and Parliament I have been very active on the the issue of biodiversity and rewilding, which I know is an issue many people care about. I have always sought to work with the Council, local Councillors and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust to improve bio-diversity in Swindon - including within the Tadpole Garden Village Nature Park. A key driver of this effort in Swindon has been thorough the Great Western Community Forest, which this year alone will plant more than 40,000 new trees in Swindon.
I’m delighted that Swindon and Wiltshire Councils have secured £300,000 worth of grants from the Forestry Commission towards tree planting and are currently looking to recruit new volunteer tree wardens for the projects, something I know many people will be keen to help with!
