Is there a West Swindon community?

Cambridge University geography student Rachel Wood from Grange Park in Swindon is researching the question of community in West Swindon. Here the former pupil of Windmill Hill, Bradon Forest School and The Ridgeway 6th Form describes her project and how you can help her.

She writes:

We are currently being bombarded with ideas about community. The government and the local council want to bring local people together again, in the hope that community is the key to a better future. And it is this hope which has prompted me to research 'community in West Swindon' for my university research project.

As I sat watching the lunchtime soaps last term, I began to wonder if life is really like this anywhere. Are there streets in the real world, where everybody knows everybody else's name? Are there places where best friends really do live next door to one another? Are there people whose lives still focus around a local sense of community?

I don't know all the people in my street, and often community centres and parks are not areas in which all neighbours can meet. People can actually feel excluded. But how have we come to this?

West Swindon was specifically designed as a set of cul-de-sacs arranged in small 'village-like' areas, with a village centre and lots of small parks, to encourage people to inter-act with each other. But this seems a far cry from today's picture.

Is there such a thing as a 'traditional community' or has it been replaced with new arrangements based on interests at a local, national and global level? It is these questions I hope to answer with my research. I am looking at the small scale sense of community, and want to consider whether it has ever existed in West Swindon. If it did, does it still exist or what has replaced it. Are there different 'modern communities' which are just as important as the traditional kind?

To answer all these questions I need to talk to people of all backgrounds, from all areas of West Swindon about their experiences of community. Whether you are already part of a formal community group, or an individual who feels detached from the place you live in, or perhaps you have formed informal groups of your own, I would like to hear from you.

I hope to run some discussion groups during September. If you would be interested in taking part, please contact me via publisher@swindonlink.com