 On Tuesday 31 January, Pastor Edward Siddall of St Johns Church blessed three new trees that were planted by the Swinton Community Focus Group and Councillors Wyatt and Monk last year.
The trees look to be very happy in their new home at St Johns Green. The spring bulbs that were planted around the trees are now starting to appear.
The Swinton Community Focus Group secured the funding to purchase the trees from the Covid Recovery Fund.
Each tree planted has its own meaning:
- In memory of local residents who were lost to Covid, or for people who suffered hardship as a result of the pandemic
- To celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee as part of the Queen's Green Canopy campaign
- As a tribute to the Queen
Each tree has its own plaque, so please do take a walk to visit the trees when you are next in the area and read their plaques.
Everyone involved in this initiative hopes the flowering cherry trees will bring a splash of colour each year for everyone to enjoy.
There is a fourth tree to remember the late Queen in the churchyard at St Margaret's Church.
This project supports the Swinton Rockingham Ward priority around improving the local environment.
 In 2022, the Swinton Community Focus Group undertook 24 litter picks either on their own, or in partnership with likeminded volunteer groups.
A staggering 386 bags of litter were removed from your local area, as a result of these litter picks.
2023 litter picks have already began, with the first taking place on the 4th of January, with 12 bags of litter collected along with a range of dumped items.
The second litter pick of the year took place on the 13th of January, with 14 bags of litter collected along with a traffic cone and three oil drums.
Queen Street Park was litter picked on the 30th of January. A total of 8 bags of litter were collected along with a sack of cement and a wheel barrow without a wheel!
Do you fancy joining other local residents who give up their time to keep your local community clean and tidy?
Why not pop along to one of their litter picks, they are a friendly group who welcome new members. The litter picks planned so far for 2023 are:
- Tuesday 7 February, 9.30am to 11am, Storey Street/St Johns area
- Wednesday 15 February, 9.30am to 11am, Bridge Street
- Friday 3rd March, 9.30am to 11am, Precinct and surrounding area
For further information, updates or to contact the Swinton Community Focus Group please do follow them on Facebook.
Ward Councillors Gina Monk and Ken Wyatt enjoy taking part in community litter picks with the Swinton Community Focus Group.
Working together makes a much bigger impact. This work helps support the Swinton Rockingham Ward priority around improving the environment.
We would like to thank the Swinton Community Focus Group for the fantastic work.
 Last week, Councillor Wyatt assisted with a community speed watch session with the local Police team at Church Street in Swinton.
In a 30 minute session, the speeds of 104 vehicles were recorded.
Just one vehicle was found to be exceeding the speed limit. That driver will receive a letter advising them that they were speeding.
Community speed watches help to support the Swinton Rockingham Ward priority of addressing crime, anti-social behaviour and improving community safety.
 Councillors Monk and Wyatt recently visited the Warm Welcome space at Swinton Library.
Swinton Library are offering a warm welcome to local residents and everyone is welcome to come along.
Pop in, get a free cup of tea or coffee and stay warm. You can come along at any time when the library is open.
The Warm Welcome space at Swinton Library helps support the overarching Swinton Rockingham Ward priority of helping residents with the Cost-of-Living crisis.
 Flux Rotherham have been running a series of six free pottery workshops for children and adults on Saturday mornings during January and early February.
The sessions have been a great success and all of the places on the workshops have been booked up.
Due to the success of the sessions, it is hoped that some more workshops can take place in the near future.
Councillors Monk and Cusworth (Kilnhurst and Swinton East Ward) hold their joint surgeries on the first Saturday of the month at Swinton Library. They were delighted to see so many people attending both the pottery workshop and the Lego Club. The library was bustling with activity, which was lovely to see.
Do call in at the library next time you are passing through to see what other activities are planned that you might wish to get involved in.
 One of the Swinton Rockingham Ward priorities is addressing crime, anti-social behaviour and improving community safety. With this in mind, the Council's Housing team have been working with ward councillors to identify projects to improve the local area for local residents.
A footpath off St Johns Road was identified for improvements. This footpath was overgrown with privet hedges making it dark and unpleasant to walk through.
The footpath is well-used by local residents. As such, funding was secured from the Council's Housing Hub budget to remove the hedges and replace them with metal fencing, which has opened up the area.
We hope local residents feel safer using the footpath.
The Swinton Community Focus Group were successful in securing some funding from the Council to provide another social event for elderly and vulnerable residents in the Swinton area.
The event took place on Thursday 12 January at the Swinton Civic Hall.
Attendees were treated to a buffet lunch (provided by the wonderful Honey Pot Cafe in the Civic Hall) and entertainment was provided by local singers Chantelle and Chloe and music from the fabulous violin player Sarah Bush.
Attendees even took part in a couple of games of bingo with group Chairman Alan as chief bingo caller.
A great time was had by all who attended and the local PCSOs popped in with their Community safety stall. Handy community safety items were provided to those in attendance.
The group hopes to be able to secure further funding to run more events like this in the future. Please follow the group on Facebook to find out more about future events.
 Volunteers have already started to meet and put plans in place for community celebrations for the Kings Coronation in May.
Make sure to keep your diaries clear, so that you can join in the fun.
So far, the following is planned:
- Saturday 6 May: Community event on the St Margaret's Church field, 2pm to 5pm, free admission. There will be stalls, children's rides, food and drink
- Saturday 6 May: Concert at St Margaret's Church, with music from the Unite the Union Brass Band and local solo artists. Tickets will be £5, including refreshments
- Sunday 7 May: Beacon lighting in the evening at the St Margaret's Church field, with food and drink stalls
We will share more information with you in the coming months.
If you would like to get involved in planning or running the community events above, please contact your Councillors or Neighbourhood Coordinator, using the contact details found at the bottom of this newsletter.
A team of community volunteers is always needed to make great events like this happen.
The Council's Community Safety team have offered reflective armbands for Year 1 pupils in our primary schools. This will help to keep children safer on darker mornings and evenings.
The armbands bear the slogan HappinesB4Hate, which was devised by the school council at Wickersley Northfield primary as part of their work to address bullying and raise awareness of hate crime.
The bands also have a QR code enabling people to find out more about hate incidents, the support available and different ways to report hate.
Since receiving the bands, several more schools have signed up to Rotherham Youth Cabinet’s Hate Charter pledges.
The Council are committed to tackling hate crime and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all residents and its work with schools is at the forefront of this.
You can find out more about the council’s work to tackle hate crime by visiting the Rotherham Council website.
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