Melksham Civic Awards celebrate community champions

MELKSHAM’S unsung heroes were celebrated at the Mayor’s Reception earlier this month when civic awards were presented to local volunteers for their contributions to the town.

Mayor of Melksham, councillor Terri Welch, hosted the special evening and presented the awards to the winners.

The Community Service Award was presented to Anthony Brown for his efforts to organise various events and supporting residents by organising music events; Flt-Lt Ray Coe for going over and above the required duties of a Squadron Leader; Debbie Marchant and Christina Connor for running the 3rd Melksham Brownie Park for many years and contributing many hours of their time as volunteers and also David Tucker who has worked at Countrywide Farmers in Melksham for 50 years and has supported many local schools and charities during that time.

The Enhancing Melksham Award was given to Tim Carpenter from Sparkles for cleaning bus shelters, road signs and street furniture on a voluntary basis; students at Lackham College for their contribution to various projects in the town; and Aidan Dorrian for his efforts in saving the Hazelwood Road play area.

For the last few years, a cadet from Melksham Air Training Corps has been chosen to be  the Mayor’s Cadet; Flt-Lt Ray Coe chose cadet Max Powell. Max will  assist the Mayor at civic functions for the forthcoming year.

Mayor of Melksham, cllr Terri Welch said, “The evening was brilliant. It is always interesting to receive the nominations for Civic Awards. These come from the public and it is their chance to say who they feel has done a good job for the town, gone over and above their day to day jobs.

“To receive a nomination for a child is great.  Aidan was able to express his concerns and make other people aware of a problem – what a future he has.

“Other people have worked for years; Ray Coe and the Brownie leaders and of course Dave Tucker from Countrywide. They deserve that the town recognises their contributions. Mr Sparkles  and the Lackham students have made their own contribution to our town landscape in this past year, jobs that other people have not had the time, skills or equipment to carry out.

“But it is the town that is the winner, having people who feel pride in our town, and are prepared to get their hands dirty.

“I feel that the awards are important to let the general public know how many voluntary hours are given to make Melksham a good place to live in.

“Everything went according to schedule and expectation. Miriam and Paul did a superb job in decorating the hall, to the envy of other mayors who were very impressed, and have plans to ‘up their game’ next year. Melksham leading the way once again!”