The 'stigmatised' Penhill estate in Swindon getting cash boost
Penhill estate in Swindon has been named by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as a deprived area which will get up to £20m to spend in the community over the next decade. Ahead of the full details of how the scheme will operate, BBC News spoke to local residents, campaigners, community leaders and politicians about what they would like to see change."The stigmatisation of Penhill has been drastic over the last 30 years," said Di Pithers, a volunteer youth worker, street rep, and campaigner for the estate she grew up on."We have no investment in Penhill. Nobody puts a value on our children, our young adults, our disabled, our elderly," she added.Ms Pithers hit back against what residents are all too aware is a negative reputation."Unless you know the area you won't understand the community spirit that we have," she said.Ms Pithers is one of several people I speak to who bring up the same local anecdote - "people don't want to go to any of the places beginning with P" in Swindon.By this, they mean the traditional council estates of Pinehurst, Parks and Penhill."One of the reasons people struggle in Penhill is because there's a reputation associated with being in one of the areas beginning with P," echoed pastor of Penhill Community Church, David Childs-Clarke.
"People in Penhill often think of themselves as being considered less than other parts of Swindon - as a church we do try and counter that message," he said."Anything that the government can do to help the reputation of an area will do something positive, to help people with their sense of identity," he added.Mr Childs-Clarke warned "deprivation probably can't be solved just with money" but said "if an area looks untidy and looks unloved then people don't love it, there are some things financially that could be done to tidy up the area".Penhill was built up from the 1960s, a new estate of council houses and tower blocks set amongst plenty of green space.But in typical household income, quality of health, level of education, child poverty and life expectancy, Penhill comes out among the most deprived in the region.
"It's about time Penhill had something put in place for it," said resident Marie Eagle, 57.Recalling how the community responded following house fires, she said: "Penhill were there straight away, they rallied round, got furniture, clothing - not many people would do that.""I know it's got a bad rep but not everyone is tarred with the same brush," she added.As she chats about the new cash to her friend Thelma Rees, 74, they say they hope some of the money can be used to bring back free family amenities, like the former community paddling pool."We need a bus that goes from here to the Orbital shopping centre, traffic calming, and it would be nice if we had a bobby that came around once in while," Ms Rees said.North Swindon's Labour MP, Will Stone, said he was "so pleased" Penhill was going to get the support it "desperately" needed. "The timeline will be over the next couple of years, I don't want to get expectations too high and say 'tomorrow you'll get a cash injection into Penhill' because it is going to take time, I want this to be right," he added."Investing in community centres, leisure facilities, and education" would be his personal priority for the cash.
'Is there a caveat?'
Asked where she thinks the cash should be spent, volunteer Ms Pithers said: "I want to see provisions for our children and everybody else in Penhill so we've got something to bring up the levels of deprivation we live in."With worries about her youth club being at risk of being kicked out of its existing building, the local doctors surgery only opening three days a week, and only one luncheon club for elderly people, she has a long list of things the money could be spent on.But with all the optimism, she does have her doubts."I am concerned, is there a caveat to receiving this money? It's up to £20m, but we might only get £1m," she said.
Penhill was listed among 25 of the government's new "trailblazer neighbourhoods" to be allocated funding by Reeves in the spending review last week. Detailed guidance on how the bid will be put together has not yet been published, but the government said it was working toward money starting to arrive from April 2026.A spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government said communities like Penhill had "been starved of investment and left behind".They said the money would come over the next decade to "boost growth, regenerate our communities and deliver real change people can see on their doorstep".
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