Swindon Advertiser Weekly Article - 13th November

It was fireworks and dancing at the culturally vibrant Diwali celebrations at the Punjabi Community Centre last Saturday as 300 people turned out to mark the occasion. Diwali, also known as the ‘Festival of Light,’ is an ancient Hindu festival which is celebrated across the Indian communities here in the UK and across the world.

The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair. It is marked by vivid sounds (fireworks), sights (incredible dancing) and taste (on this occasion a wonderful 4 course Indian buffet!)

It was a truly great occasion to be a part of and it always strikes me how well different communities and cultures manage to come together in Swindon to celebrate jointly. The Swindon Indian Association did another fantastic job in creating a colourful and joyful atmosphere where everybody was made to feel welcome – regardless of religion, belief or nationality.

Elsewhere, I was delighted to pay a visit to Grange Leisure in Stratton to see how they are opening up their fantastic facilities to help promote disability sport in partnership with Uplands school, whose pupils are currently making a weekly trip to participate in a variety of different activities, including wheelchair ‘street snooker.’

It was great to meet the team at Grange who are going to extraordinary lengths to open up the centre to be as inclusive as possible, and of course the inspirational pupils from Uplands who never cease to be anything but cheerful and enthusiastic. I am determined to seek to challenge and change the perception that disabled people are less able to take part in sport than non-disabled people. Disabled people should be able to view taking part in sport as a viable lifestyle choice and I am glad that Grange Leisure are creating these opportunities.

Finally I will be visiting Uplands again today to help them with their fundraising event for Children in Need which takes place this weekend. As ever, I am sure that there will be classrooms, organisations and businesses across Swindon, who will be doing their part to raise money for vulnerable children across the UK. Children in Need does a fantastic job in funding local projects right here in Swindon across the South West. Some of these projects include Dogs for the Disabled, The Jessie May Trust, The Elizabeth Foundation, Positive Action on Cancer and of course, the fantastic Swindon Downs Syndrome Group. I hope that residents will be encouraged to take part in a variety of the different activities taking part across Swindon tomorrow to raise money for some incredible local organisations.