Football club gets behind important COVID-19 town-wide campaign

‘Swindon: It’s up to all of us’, which was launched by Swindon Borough Council three weeks ago, reinforces a number of important public health messages and has received excellent support from local and regional media, partner organisations and Swindon residents.

The campaign has already reached almost a million people on social media and now Town manager Wellens, together with his assistant manager Noel Hunt and goalkeeping coach Steve Mildenhall, have put together their own social media video urging people to play their part in preventing the spread of coronavirus.

So far, letters and materials have been sent to 300 local groups and organisations and 600 businesses promoting COVID-19 safety messages.

More than 20,000 households in the SN1 and SN2 areas have received a hand-delivered letter from the Council’s Director or Public Health reminding them of the advice they need to follow. Leaflets have also been sent out to households and reminders put in various local magazines and newsletters.

A mobile testing unit is also currently in place at the County Ground car park to make it easy for people in the SN1 postcode to be tested for COVID-19.

Last Friday (28 Aug) Swindon moved up the Government’s national watchlist to become an “area for enhanced support” due to its recent high COVID-19 case rate.

Although the most recent figures show the case rate is reducing, the Council’s Public Health team is continuing to urge people to follow the guidance to reduce the number of new cases in the town.

Richie Wellens said the football club was only too happy to support the town-wide campaign. He said: “COVID has had such a huge impact on all our lives, which is why it is so important we all play our part to break the chain of infection.

“Our supporters are the lifeblood of Swindon Town Football Club. We are desperate to play in front of a live crowd on matchdays again, but we will only be able to do that if everyone follows the public health guidance and we manage to keep our case rate down. As the campaign slogan says ‘Swindon: It’s up to all of us’.”

Councillor Brian Ford, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, said: “We have had a fantastic response to our campaign so far, but I would like to thank Richie and his staff for showing their support and reinforcing these really important messages we all need to follow.

“We all want to see fans back at the County Ground as soon as we can, but we need to make sure we all play our part in keeping COVID-19 at bay. Although we have seen our case rate declining over the last week we cannot be complacent and we need to keep doing the right things.

“If you have a new continuous cough, a high temperature or a loss of, or change to your sense of smell or taste, stay at home and arrange a test straight away by visiting the online portal or by calling 119.”