£25,000 bonanza for local groups

Local community groups have benefited from nearly £25,000 worth of grants, donated by Melksham Area Board and Melksham Rotary Club. 

Melksham Area Board awarded £18,029 of community grants to help projects in and around the town while Melksham Rotary Club donated over £6,500 to a range of local causes and organisations.

Amongst the groups to benefit are Wiltshire Air Ambulance, the Riverside Club for a new roof and kitchen, Melksham Without Parish Council to provide seven community operated defibrillators, Broughton Gifford and Holt Scouts for new toilets and AFC Melksham Disabled Football Club for new goalposts.

The recipients of Wiltshire Council’s Melksham Area Board donations were:

• Shaw and Whitley Community Cafe – £500 for tables, chairs and cafe equipment.

• ReadEasy Melksham -£500 for printer and accessories.

• Shaw & Whitley Friendship Club – £500 for wooden Wendy house.

• AFC Melksham Disabled Football Club – £900 for 3 portable goal sets.

• Broughton Gifford and Holt Scouts – £3,054 towards new toilets and an outdoor covered area.

• Melksham Without Parish Council – £3,212 towards seven community operated defibrillators.

• Keevil Parish Council – £375 for hand railings along the main street high bank.

• Riverside Club – £5,000 for reroofing, and £3,988 for a full kitchen replacement.

Area board grants are offered to help provide facilities, equipment and projects that are important to the local community.

Melksham Rotary Club held a reception at the town’s Art House Cafe last week where they distributed their donation of £6,500 to 11 organisations, 10 of which were in attendance during the evening.

Representatives of the community projects each said a small piece about their organisation and what the funding was for.

The new Rotary president Sarah Hiscocks hosted the event. Sarah said, “It was lovely to get together to acknowledge and thank each other for our contributions and to hear the stories of how the money can make such a difference.

“The donations that Melksham Rotary are able to give back to the Melksham community are thanks to the hard work of volunteers who give their time to work in the ArtHouse Café, the Rotary-run cafe in the Market Place. Approximately 3,400 hours are given each year.

“Although our volunteers make the money, it is the hard work of those who we distributed funds to who actually deliver the service and make a difference to the lives of people in and around Melksham.

“Each recipient organisation relies on donations so that they can continue to do their great work and Melksham Rotary is delighted to be able to help.”

The full list of grant recipients represented at the event was as follows: • Steeple Ashton Guides (£300) • Life Education Centre (£300) • Big Community Grow (£900) • Wilts and Berks Canal Trust (£500) • Wiltshire Mind (£500) • Melksham Riverside Club (£1,000) • Melksham Food Bank (£250) • Devizes Opportunity Centre (£500) • Amber Foundation (£500) • Wiltshire Air Ambulance (£1,000)

Martha Care also received a £500 grant but were not present.

For more information visit www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/areaboards.