Melksham Town Council hands over £30,000 in grants

OVER 50 local community groups, projects and events have been awarded a grant from Melksham Town Council which totals £30,250.

The grants were awarded at a recent awards ceremony held at the Assembly Hall where representatives from those receiving the grants were handed cheques by the Mayor, cllr Adrienne Westbrook.

Some of the groups who received the bigger grants were Melksham Christmas Lights (£6,000), Wiltshire Citizens Advice (£5,500), Young Melksham (£3,000), Melksham Tourist Information Centre (£3,000), Melksham Party in the Park (£3,000), Melksham & District Seniors 55+ Forum (£3,000) and Melksham Food & River Festival  (£2,500).

Others that received grants included Alzheimer’s Support, the Rainbow day centre, SPLASH, Melksham PHAB Club and many more.

Deputy town clerk, Clare Harris said, “This year the town council received 52 grant applications and were delighted to be able to award something to every single group that applied.

“We are so lucky that our town has so many wonderful people who give up their time for such great causes.

“Melksham Town Council allocates just over £25,000 of its annual budget to donate money back into the local area through grants. The purpose of these grants is to bring real improvements to the local community and the lives of the people living there. The council was very fortunate this year to have been able to add an additional £5,000 to the grant fund, using a proportion of the solar farm community benefit monies generated from the production of solar power at Sandridge; monies from which must be spent on goods or services for the promotion or improvement of the environmental, social or economic benefit of Melksham.”