Have a drink on us! Fundraiser launched to treat vaccine staff and volunteers to night out

A FUNDRAISER has been launched to treat those who have been involved at Melksham’s Covid vaccine centre since before Christmas 2020, as a thank you from the community.

With over 100 people involved in the vaccination programme at Spencer Sports and Social Club, which has been nicknamed ‘Team Spencer’s’, the campaign aims to raise £2,000 in a gesture of appreciation, provided by High Street micropub, The Hiding Place, and Market Place café, Eddy’s. These two local businesses will offer members of the Covid vaccination team a free drink and bite to eat to express Melksham’s gratitude. Both businesses will be providing this at cost and their staff will work for free. 

So far, over £1,150 has been donated to the campaign.

About the campaign, Malcolm Shipp from The Hiding Place said, “If you’ve had your Covid-19 vaccination at Spencer Sports Club, no doubt you’ll have been knocked out by the outstanding efficiency, professionality and beautiful charm of all the people  involved in getting Melksham towards full vaccination.

“We were too, and being that myself and my partner Karen own a lovely little bar (The Hiding Place) that is closed for three days of the week, we decided it would be a great idea for the local community to say thank you by giving them a small token of our appreciation.”

Any excess money raised by the campaign will be shared between Wiltshire Mind and Young Melksham – “both of which deal with mental health, which has been an issue for many during the pandemic,” said Malcolm.  

All the fundraising will be overseen by an independent auditor.

News of the community fundraiser has bowled over Melksham’s vaccination team. On behalf of Team Spencers’s, operations manager, Sheila Stansfield, told Melksham News, “I think I can speak on behalf of everyone who has had a part to play at the vaccination centre – right back from the initial set-up before Christmas –  that they are absolutely touched and find it such a heartwarming gesture. It actually reduced a couple of people to tears when Malcolm told us about it.

“It’s an amazing thing to do, it makes us feel like we are being lifted up by the community.  Many, many people have worked tirelessly and gone above and beyond to make the vaccine centre work as well as it does.

“There has been such an overwhelming sense of support from the community for ‘Team Spencer’s’- having the community behind us is just really uplifting. It’s gestures like this that touch our hearts and are really appreciated.”

To donate and support the fundraising campaign, visit the website: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/covid-volunteers-melksham

“Please only give what you can afford,” said Malcolm, “if that’s just a pound then we’ll be very grateful of that! Let’s show these wonderful souls how much they mean to us.”