Twelve neighbourhoods in the Wiltshire town also remain among the most deprived 10% in England, with some residents living up to eight years less than those in wealthier parts of the town. A new report done by Swindon Borough Council’s recently appointed director of public health Dr Emma Kain, ranked Swindon 98th out of 151 councils in England for deprivation, highlighting deep-rooted inequalities in health, income and opportunity.

Areas such as Penhill, Gorse Hill & Pinehurst, Central, Walcot & Park North, and Liden, Eldene & Park South are among those facing the greatest challenges, with higher rates of asthma, diabetes and mental health conditions, especially among children. Dr Kain, said deprivation and economic status are among the most significant indicators of health outcomes.

Yet while many residents continue to feel the social and economic strain, visible in boarded-up shopfronts and rising demand for charity support, there are powerful signs of change taking shape across Swindon, and it’s not all doom in gloom. Regeneration work is now underway, from the £918m redevelopment of the former Honda site to the new train station project, a proposed 2,000-capacity entertainment venue, and housing growth in Wichelstowe and the New Eastern Villages.

The Panattoni Park redevelopment of the former Honda site is one of the UK’s biggest brownfield regeneration projects. The 7.2 million square feet site will host logistics, manufacturing and data companies, creating up to 11,000 direct jobs and 4,000 in the wider supply chain.

The council is working with Network Rail on the Knowledge Central train station redevelopment, a multi-million-pound project set to deliver new homes, offices and leisure spaces. Plans are also in motion for a brand-new entertainment venue on the site of the old bus station, with capacity for up to 2,000 people, alongside the recently opened £33 million bus interchange, Fleming Way.

In the 2025 Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities Index, Swindon ranked fifth nationally, outperforming Birmingham, Manchester and Cardiff, as well as Oxford and Reading. The Index measures jobs, skills, health, transport and income equality and Swindon scored above average in seven of twelve categories, the council said.

In Swindon, Voluntary Action Swindon (VAS) has been supporting local charities since 1932, helping to address inequalities across the borough.

Voluntary Action Swindon is commissioned by Swindon Borough Council to support charities, the community and the voluntary sector within Swindon. This includes helping organisations source funding, strengthen governance, and collaborate more effectively.

VAS shared the latest findings of their survey, which opened on March 3 and closed on April 23 2025. Out of the 67 responses received from charities, not-for-profit organisations, and community groups in Swindon, 64% said they saw an increase in demand in services over the last 12 months.

In addition to this, 25% said they saw a decrease in overall income within the past year. Furthermore, 23% of organisations do not hold reserves to financially sustain their operations, and 49% have had to seek additional funding while managing an increase in demand. The Sector Survey was done using Survey Monkey and sent out to Voluntary and Community Organisations in Swindon via email and their newsletter VAS id. The sector survey is carried out every two years.

Carol Willis, CEO of Voluntary Action Swindon since April 2023 told the Express: “There are lots of inequalities within Swindon.”

The organisation is running a year-long National Lottery pilot called People Like Me, which employs four ‘Community Change Makers’, local residents from some of the borough’s most deprived areas Parks, Penhill, Morden, and the Town Centre.

“The idea is to have people who already live in these communities act as Community Connectors, engaging residents, gathering grassroots feedback, and relaying it to stakeholders to inform local services. The pilot has received positive feedback, and the team is seeking funding to expand it to seven areas of deprivation.

“It’s about listening to the community at the grassroots level and taking that voice back up into the system.”

She said that the increase in demand has been “significant.”

“The increase on demand has been significant since probably there’s still a lag from Covid and then obviously we had the cost of living rises, the national insurance contributions for employers went up which impacts on the voluntary sector and at the same time funding grants have reduced.”

She said they have strong relationships with both the Integrated Care Board and the council, making Swindon’s stakeholder landscape relatively simple compared to other towns with multiple councils and boards. The CEO of Voluntary Action Swindon also highlighted the strong link between health and inequality. She said: “There is a big obesity problem in Swindon.”

Marie Mccabe, 57, who was born and has always lived in Swindon, told the Express that the town centre has gone ‘downhill’ in recent years and that many shops have closed.

She said: “It is just heartbreaking. It is hard.

“You can see it. So many places have closed. My mum always says there’s going to be more coffee shops and charity shops than most shops.

“I still shop here, but it means I have to go elsewhere for other bits.”

She added that there’s “quite a bit” of anti-social behaviour in town.

Freda Hibberd who has been living in the area for about 40 years, said: “There’s nothing in town to come for really. It’s all cafes, charity shops, vapes, discount stores, that’s about it.”

If she needs anything, she said she needs to go to Asda outside of the city centre or Greenbridge and places like that.

After 112 years, the M&S on Regent Street closed its doors in October 2023.

Ms Hibberd said: “I loved M&S, but there’s nothing really here.

“A lot of places have closed. There’s only one shop I can go if I need any clothes and if I don’t like anything, I got to go up to Asda.”

It takes her about three-quarters of an hour to get to Asda on the bus.

Before, she said: “All the shops were open. You could get everything. Now, it’s not like that anymore.

“It’s a shame, really. I used to love Swindon. I used to get everything here. Now it’s changed a lot.”

She said that her daughters are concerned about her safety in town due to drunk people and people begging, so they prefer she doesn’t go out alone but she still comes because she needs to get out, walk, and stay active.

Terry Abbott, 65, has been living in Swindon for 10 years. He agreed: “It’s all been pear-shaped. Just in ten years a lot of things have changed. There are a lot of shops that have shut down.

“There was all kinds of better shops before but they’ve closed down.”

Antisocial behaviour, he said, is a significant problem in town.

He said: “They all hang around here. You get the buskers, the beggars, the alcoholics, the druggies. You get a lot of drugs now.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson said: “Swindon is a huge economic success story and continues to outperform many larger towns and cities, while it was recently ranked in the top five places to live by a leading growth index.

“However, like many places, it does have pockets of deprivation, which is why the Government recently announced £40m in funding to help two of our local communities.

“We are committed to tackling health inequalities, particularly in areas with greater deprivation and we have multiple programmes to deal specifically with obesity such as the Get Swindon Active partnership, health improvement coaches and Football Fans in Training, to name just three. We have also very recently established a new Junior Parkrun in Central Swindon to encourage young people to get active and have introduced a Healthier Advertising Policy and reduced the number of new hot food takeaways in areas of greater deprivation where obesity prevalence is higher.

“Local NHS-funded inequalities grants have supported a number of projects including supervised toothbrushing in schools, to reduce the number of children with tooth decay and those who may need teeth removed. This has been incredibly successful with the latest data showing that the percentage of five year olds with visually obvious dental decay has reduced from 28.9% in 2018/19 to 16.5% in 2023/24, against an England average of 22.4%.”

On the town centre, the spokesperson said: “Swindon’s high street mirrors those from across the UK. We appreciate the town centre needs to change with the times and become less focused on retail and more centred on leisure and hospitality.

“We have recently opened a new £33m bus interchange which has transformed a key gateway into the town centre and the comments from shoppers and visitors has been really positive. That investment has, in turn, encouraged major landowners to invest millions of pounds in their buildings nearby and we are expecting more investment to come forward. It is really important that we have a successful Central Business District as the more people we have working and living in the centre of Swindon, the more retail, leisure and hospitality businesses will want to move in.

“We are working with the landowners who own most of the town centre and our partners to rejuvenate the area so we can bring about the changes everyone wants to see.

“Our Heart of Swindon vision has led to a number of positive conversations with outside investors and, through working with local businesses on the potential return of the Business Improvement District (BID), we are beginning to see some momentum which we firmly believe will change the face of our town centre over the coming years.”