When Forward Swindon was created in 2010, one of the partners which made up the company was the Swindon Cultural Partnership (SCP). SCP was a small company formed by a partnership between Swindon Borough Council, Arts Council SW, and a number of locally based businesses (including Nationwide and npower). The partnership had been operating in Swindon for some years, working behind the scenes trying to make it easier for cultural activity to happen in the Borough.
The work of the SCP included, in 2009, a month of events around the theme of Think:Swindon. During April of that year, the town saw exhibitions, shows, events, words, pictures and gatherings on the themes of diversity, inclusion and tolerance, with the International Anne Frank exhibition at its heart. However, although on the surface this was a month of things to do, its underlying importance was that it acted as a research tool for finding out about how culture works (or doesn't) in Swindon. It allowed the SCP to explore cultural venues, a huge variety of different sorts of activity, the range of groups and individuals working in cultura across the Borough, and, perhaps most importantly, the issues, problems and obstacles that prevent or slow down cultural growth in Swindon. A review of the month's events highlighed some of the outcomes of the project, primarily through some light hearted 'adverts'. You can see the document here.
Some of the events that were started in Think:Swindon are now growing into permanent cultural activities in Swindon (for example, Swindon Film festival and St. George's Day) and form part of the work of Forward Swindon. Also, many of the thoughts about Swindon's culture that emerged through the SCP's research, were captured in a document (Ten Thoughts on Swindon Culture). These thoughts now form the basis for much of the thinking behind Swindon's cultural development, not only in Forward Swindon, but on a broader front and by many different people and organisations.