Editing Swindon (section)

===Polish community===
After the end of World War II, Polish refugees were temporarily housed in barracks at [[RAF Fairford]], about {{convert|25|km|mi|abbr=on}} to the north. Around 1950, some settled in Scotland and others in Swindon<ref>[http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2000/5/31/244211.html/  ''Community celebrates its golden anniversary'', Swindon Advertiser, 31 May 2000] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015523/http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2000/5/31/244211.html/ |date=30 September 2007 }}.Retrieved on 23 July 2007.</ref> rather than stay in the barracks or hostels they were offered.<ref name=":1">[http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/search/display.var.1300645.0.polish_club_closes_doors_for_last_time.php/ ''Polish club closes doors for last time'' – Swindon Advertiser, 1 April 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927012215/http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/search/display.var.1300645.0.polish_club_closes_doors_for_last_time.php/ |date=27 September 2007 }}. Retrieved on 24 July 2007</ref>

The 2001 UK Census found that most of the Polish-born people had stayed or returned after serving with British forces during World War II. Swindon and Nottingham were parts of this settlement.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/uk/05/born_abroad/countries/html/poland.stm/  ''Born Abroad'', BBC News] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217084012/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/uk/05/born_abroad/countries/html/poland.stm |date=17 February 2007 }}.Retrieved on 23 July 2007.</ref> Data from that census showed that 566 Swindonians were Polish-born.<ref>[http://www.multicultural-matters.com/polish_community.htm/ – ''Polish Community Focus'' Multicultural Matters] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711162236/http://www.multicultural-matters.com/polish_community.htm |date=11 July 2007 }}.Retrieved on 23 July 2007</ref> Notes to those data read: "The [[Polish Resettlement Act 1947|Polish Resettlement Act of 1947]], which was designed to provide help and support to people who wished to settle here, covered about 190,000 people ... at the time Britain did not recognise many of the professional [qualifications] gained overseas ... [but] many did find work after the war; some went down the mines, some worked on the land or in steelworks. Housing was more of a problem and many Poles were forced to live in barracks previously used for [[Prisoner of War|POW]]s ... The first generation took pains to ensure that their children grew up with a strong sense of Polish identity".

[[National Health Service|NHS]] planners devising services for senior citizens estimated in 1994 that 5% of Swindon's population were not 'ethnically British',<ref>[http://www.agwsha.nhs.uk/board/july04/Agenda_Item_6.1_Vic_SOC_Final_10_June_20041.pdf/ ''Modernising Services for Older People in Swindon''– Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, Swindon Primary Care Trust and Swindon Borough Council] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006212155/http://www.agwsha.nhs.uk/board/july04/Agenda_Item_6.1_Vic_SOC_Final_10_June_20041.pdf |date=6 October 2007 }}.Retrieved on 24 July 2007.</ref> and most of those were culturally Polish.

The town's Polish ex-servicemen's club, which had run a football team for 45 years, closed in 2012. Barman Jerzy Trojan blamed the decline of both club and team on the children and grandchildren of the original refugees losing their Polish identity.<ref name=":1" />