The move was announced at a briefing at Create Studios on Monday by Swindon Borough Council and the Swindon Culture Collective.
The submission places the town into a national competition seen as one of the UK’s most influential culture-led regeneration programmes. The scheme is designed to help places attract investment, develop skills, build partnerships and boost long-term confidence.
The UK City of Culture programme invites locations to outline how culture can drive economic and social change.
Previous title holders include Liverpool, Derry, Hull, Coventry and Bradford. The award is not based solely on existing cultural reputation, with bids judged on ambition, community involvement and long-term impact.
Government guidance for the current round has indicated that the winning place could receive up to £10 million in funding. At the launch event, speakers described the bid as a sign of confidence in the town’s future.
Vince Ayris, councillor elect and local business owner, said winning the bid could unlock wider improvements.He said:
“It’d be fantastic to win this bid to help support the infrastructure of Swindon, get some things moving that we’re desperately in need of, sports facilities, this type of thing. And the cultural effect is very good and wise as well.”
Creative Catalyst Carole Bent said there was a strong sense of momentum.
“The amount of creativity that exists in this town is phenomenal,” she said. “Quite a lot is just under the surface, but it’s been bubbling up more and more over many years. It’s genuinely exciting.”
Business owner Marcus Kittridge said other cities showed what was possible.
“I’ve been to Bradford. I’ve been to Liverpool as well, and it’s just transformative,” he said. “I’m not saying that Swindon’s in such a decayed state as Liverpool was in the 1980s, but you can see the parallels.”
South Swindon Parish Councillor Linda Kasmaty said:
“It’s a good thing for Swindon because it shows a high degree of ambition, and that’s what we want in Swindon. People being ambitious for this to work.”
Organisers say Swindon already has a cultural base that could support a City of Culture programme.
This includes venues such as the Wyvern Theatre, the national railway heritage told through STEAM Museum of the Great Western Railway, and a growing presence of public art, festivals and creative spaces.
Laura, manager of the Wyvern Theatre, said the bid was necessary despite potential criticism.
“We are prepared for there being some negativity towards us going for this bid, but I think it’s absolutely what we need,” she said. “We need to punch above our weight. We need to set our sights high.”
Cabinet member for placemaking and planning Marina Strinkovsky said the title could have an impact beyond a single year.
“It has given places an opportunity to really transform the image, the self-image, the self-confidence, the self-assertiveness of a place,” she said. “It’s a great catalyst for placemaking.”
She said that, if successful, funding would focus on community participation.
“Most of the money I would give to the community to enter the sector, to develop projects, develop placemaking projects, participatory projects, community art projects, to say how they want their town to be,” she said.
Last August, Swindon Culture Collective launched with the aim of boosting participation and celebrating the town’s creative life, and is currently delivering a two-year programme funded in part by £600,000 from Arts Council England’s National Lottery Place Partnership Fund.
Graeme Leighfield of GEL Studios said Swindon’s cultural depth was often underestimated.
“You only need to scratch away a few layers to see how deep the history and culture of this town is,” he said. “We’ve got immense potential shifting a lot of that energy into positivity, being part of the solution.”
The expression of interest marks the first stage of a multi-stage national selection process.
If invited to progress, Swindon would need to submit a full bid setting out its cultural vision, delivery plans and long-term legacy.
Come on Swindon. Let’s grab this chance to showcase our town. This award could and should be a spring board for development and even more PRIDE in our wonderful town
From 15 November 1995 to 7 January 1996., Windmill Hill Primary School, Swindon held an exhibition of children’s work in the National Gallery. I believe this was the first time children’s work had been exhibited in the Gallery.
It began a National Gallery initiative called Take One Picture which is still operating now. Many schools across the nation take part.
In 1995 Windmill Hill was the first and only school to exhibit.
If this information is of any value in Swindon’s bid to become the town of culture I would be delighted to provide more information.
The term “councillor elect” here is quite dishonest & misleading?