Melksham Townswomen’s Guild closes after 70 years

An organisation that has brought women together in Melksham for seven decades has closed after declining membership.

The Melksham Townswomen’s Guild held its final meeting in January after struggling to recruit new members. The group, which began in 1955, offered local women the chance to meet, take part in social activities and listen to guest speakers.

The national Townswomen’s Guild movement was founded in 1929, emerging from the Suffragette movement and aiming to promote women’s education and participation in public life. Guilds have traditionally offered women a chance to come together to discuss issues, campaign on matters affecting their lives and take part in community activities.

Chairperson Tricia Hoy said the Melksham branch’s membership had fallen to around 10 or 11 members, making it unsustainable to continue.

“Our membership has gotten so low we were down to about 10 or 11 members and it just wasn’t sustainable any more to be able to do what we expect to do as a group. We had to hire a hall and have a speaker once a month and only having 10 members, we weren’t able to do that anymore.”

Tricia, who has chaired the group for 25 years, said it had become harder to attract younger members.

“Trying to recruit younger women was a challenge; we couldn’t get younger people along. Our group met on a Friday afternoon and that doesn’t fit in with a working woman. Originally, it was on a Friday evening but then it changed.”

She said the group had enjoyed many highlights over the years, including meeting other Townswomen’s Guilds across Wiltshire, taking part in activities and tournaments, and staging drama performances.

The group also provided companionship and support for women in the area.

“I just turned up on my own for a meeting in 1999 and was welcomed in.

“We have welcomed women that move into this area looking for companionship and somewhere to go because they have moved here in their latter years and their family live close by. We have had quite a few people join us through that reason.

“I think one of the main things that will be missed is the support for each other.  We have all agreed to go out for lunch once a month; hopefully that will work and we will be able to meet up once a month and exchange stories.”

At the group’s last meeting on 9th January, members were invited to bring memorabilia to share.

“We reminisced over the items while eating cake and drinking tea. Our group were a very friendly bunch,” said Tricia.

The closure comes as the national Townswomen’s Guild organisation prepares to close its headquarters at the end of the month with local Townswomen’s Guilds able to continue to operate independently.