SLOUGH was named one of the worst places to live in the UK, following a recent poll conducted by iLivehere.
The annual survey saw 110,172 locals voting for their own communities and the “toilet of Berkshire” was ranked ninth out of 50.
But organisations including HOME Slough, which is working to increase opportunities and awareness of creative arts in the borough, is already making a change to the town.
Claire Giacobbe, community engagement manager for HOME Slough, said she’s already seen a difference since launching their projects back in May 2021.
She said the community now has more trust in them and want to be more involved in the programme.
“Slough seems to have more of a purpose now, there’s a buzz of people feeling proud about the town again,” Ms Giacobbe said.
“We’re aware the footfall in high street has gone down but we are working with Slough BID and the Slough Central team to ensure we do something within the town centre.”
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This is just one way Slough has been described as well as "the streets" being "full of empty takeaway packets and empty beers cans, left by knuckle scraping ner’do’wells who would not recognise a bin if you put a neon sign on it".
Some comments on our Facebook page shared their thoughts on the survey results.
One commenter said: “I would hate to offend but I agree slough is at its worst than it has ever been.”
Another said Slough being named one of the worst places to live seems to be “spot on”.
Slough MP Tan Dhesi, who responded to the poll, said: “Slough has a proud past and present, and an even brighter future - with exciting plans to further improve the official youth capital of Britain, which was recently voted as the best place to live and work.
“With the large current ongoing developments across town, the completion of Crossrail this year, future plans for the Western Rail Link to Heathrow, the consistent high achievements of our top performing schools, our unrivalled huge business hub and thriving diverse local culture, we can look to the future to build on these fantastic achievements and make Slough even better.”
READ MORE: Why Slough shouldn't be named one of worst places to live in UK
And the HOME Slough team is also feeling positive about the year ahead.
Ms Giacobbe added they’re looking to make use of the empty units in the Queensmere Observatory shopping centre and hope to host performances there soon.
“There’s a lot of creative people in the area and some fantastic talent so we really want to showcase that and have a performance space because that’s what’s missing from the town.
“I see this as a massive opportunity for us to improve Slough, it’s about collaboration and helping each other and we want to get the best for our residents.”
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