Who deserves to be Melksham’s Person or Group of the Year 2019?

Melksham News’ Person of the Year award is back – and this year there is a new category, Group of the Year!

As well as recognising a resident who has made a real contribution to the community in 2019, Melksham News readers can now nominate a local group who have made a difference in the town or surrounding villages.

It’s been an exciting year for Melksham and many individuals and groups have worked hard to improve the town, raise money for charity or help other people. With so many people doing great things in their community, we need your help to find them.

For the Person of the Year award you can nominate a friend, family member, community leader, colleague or even someone you don’t know – any person who lives or works in the Melksham area who you think has contributed most to the local community.  

For the Group of the Year award you can nominate a group, organisation, or committee – any group that does work in the Melksham area who you think has contributed most to the local community. Don’t worry if not everyone from the group comes from Melksham, what’s important is that the work of the group benefits the town in some way. 

The only conditions for both awards are that the person or group is from Melksham or one of the surrounding villages or works in the town. Nominees for the Person of the Year award cannot be someone that has previously won this award.

Nominations must be received by 3pm on Wednesday 8th January. A shortlist of nominees will be published in the next issue of Melksham News. The winner of each award will this year be chosen by a panel of local representatives.

Ian Drew, editor of Melksham News said, “This is a chance to nominate someone or a group who deserves recognition for their outstanding contribution to Melksham over the past year or who has had a big impact on life in the town.

“We’ve introduced the Group of the Year award due to public demand – there are so many fantastic groups in the town who work so hard to give back to the community, and sometimes it can be a bit unfair to single out just one person from that group. This award will be a real opportunity to celebrate and acknowledge the work of these people.”

The Person of the Year award for 2018 was given to owners of The White Hart pub in Atworth, Nathan and Kirsty Cortilla. for creating a community hub for the village and for their fundraising for local organisations and charities. 

Other previous winners include the late ex-councillor and community volunteer Mike Mills; fundraiser Bev Viveash; Anne Cranham for her 37 years with the Scouts; Ann Peirce and the late Brenda Abbott for their fundraising for Dorothy House; former Melksham Town FC chair Dave Wiltshire; Alex and Colin Goodhind for their charity Christmas lights displays; George Brown from Melksham Council for Community Service; Paul Weymouth, organiser of the Melksham Christmas Lights team; and Christine Broom, a cub leader for over 20 years.

Nominations can be made by emailing news@melkshamnews.co.uk stating your name, address and contact number with your nominee’s name and why you are nominating them. (We won’t disclose who has made the nominations). If you have contact details for your nominee, please include these. Or write to Melksham News, 31 Market Place. SN12 6ES.