A brand-new, community-focused meet-up event for women is launching in Melksham next month.
The concept has been thought up by Melksham-newbie, Laura Martin, who moved to the area during the pandemic. Laura was fortunate enough to make a couple of new friends through social media, but realised that not everyone has the confidence to initiate an in-person meet up, or to find things to talk about.
Laura explains, “I’ve been volunteering at the Tech Savvy group at ‘that meeting space’ in Melksham for the past five months, which is aimed at helping the elderly community to improve their digital skills. This has been a fantastic project, but it highlighted the fact that there are many groups and activities available for older age groups, but not necessarily for all; many groups are held during working hours, so they are not suitable for those in full time employment or with young children.”
On International Women’s Day this month, Laura put a post on a local Facebook community group to gauge interest and the response was overwhelming.
“I had lots of comments and direct messages from people agreeing that a meet-up would be well-received and that it is certainly something is needed in Melksham,” continues Laura. “The pandemic has limited the opportunities that might otherwise be presented for women to make new connections.
“Working from home, gyms being closed, and mum and baby groups being cancelled, have inhibited this potential. With Melksham being a rural town, locals often travel to Bath, Swindon or Bristol for a bigger social scene. I hope that this movement will be the missing piece to bring people together now that life is returning to normal.”
Since then, Laura has created ‘MyTribe’, a website has been created to promote the event and ‘that meeting space’ has very kindly agreed to let MyTribe use the venue.
John Firth, Coordinator at ‘that meeting space’, said, “We are really pleased to see ‘that meeting space’ being used for an event such as this. ‘That meeting space’ is in the heart of the town centre, so naturally it is the perfect place for locals to get together and meet new people; the clue is in its title!”
The very first event is taking place on Wednesday 13th April 7-9pm, and will include a live speaker, local market traders, the opportunity to meet new people and a charity raffle with proceeds donated to the Ukraine relief effort.
The event will take place each month, with each one focusing on a different theme of interest. Tickets are £12.50 and must be purchased in advance, on the MyTribe website (where more detailed information can be found): www.mytribe.info
“I am proud that Melksham is the location of the very first MyTribe event,” said Laura. “It is hoped that if successful, we will expand to other nearby towns and replicate what has been started here.”