Shaw and Whitley Community Emergency Group (CEG) and other volunteers took part in a simulation exercise on 28th and 29th March to test what the local response might be to a multi-day power outage in circumstances where we might have very limited communications (eg phones), transport (eg fuel shortages) and emergency service support (eg limited hospital cover).
Within 30 minutes of the start of the exercise an incident room was set up at Whitley Reading Rooms with information boards, a reception to deal with members of the public and to triage incidents, a waiting area, and a team to find and acquire resources in order to mitigate simulated issues such as a house fire, medical emergencies, food shortages and distressed members of the public.
The simulation, which was part of a wider exercise, was supported by Wiltshire Council; REACT, the voluntary organisation that has emergency event experience including recent deployments in Syria and Turkey; Wiltshire and Swindon Local Resilience Forum; and Melksham Without Parish Council. Raynet provided communications links to the police HQ and County Hall and the police also provided volunteers including a local Police Community Support Officer.
Melksham Without Parish Council clerk, Teresa Strange said, “This was a routine exercise as part of normal emergency planning and there is no reason for residents to feel anxious because of it. The exercise was a great success with the emergency planning that the volunteers already have in place proving extremely useful. Of course, a number of operational issues were identified – this was what the exercise was really about – but now steps can be taken to better prepare for any real event in the future.
“Heartfelt thanks go to all the volunteers who took part, some of who revealed some fantastic acting skills!”
If you would like to be involved in a future exercise, or to volunteer to set up a similar response in your area please get in touch with either Teresa Strange clerk@melkshamwithout-pc.gov.uk or Chris Manuel, wiltshireandswindonprepared@wiltshire.gov.uk
![Melksham Times Past
A column about days gone by in Melksham by local historian Lisa Ellis
The Independent Chapel and Women’s Rights in the 1840s
A document I recently transcribed lists the baptisms performed at the Independent Chapel. This record is especially helpful in that, along with baptisms, a lot of them include birth dates - one of the ways I discover which day someone was born.
The following is taken from a Wiltshire Times article published on 9th November 1878 which reports a speech given during the 100-year services and to celebrate their renovations (what we now know to be the Rachel Fowler Centre).
One speaker, Rev. T. Mann, minister in Trowbridge, talked about the Chapel’s origins when he related how Rev. Honywill came to Melksham and how he’d gone on to remain as the minister for the Independent Chapel for almost 60 years. [Honywill and his family lived on King Street in what we now call “Legion House”.]
Read more on our website, the link is in our bio.](https://scontent-lhr6-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.75761-15/505444438_18038424887647822_3264519508333556874_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=aLBu4qWxSc8Q7kNvwHaVKlW&_nc_oc=AdlPbhxQewT_cSiTru31F-5KIjiDsVWMpCZRRI9rD6F5r9thoch559YVoStjbAgUtcg&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr6-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=LXEyVdf4JnNeYoQ52WXzVA&oh=00_AfNKFktSzThG--xszpxiOTO4LXiH0FfuQLjmBatZSq5t_A&oe=68586A4A "Melksham Times Past
A column about days gone by in Melksham by local historian Lisa Ellis
The Independent Chapel and Women’s Rights in the 1840s
A document I recently transcribed lists the baptisms performed at the Independent Chapel. This record is especially helpful in that, along with baptisms, a lot of them include birth dates - one of the ways I discover which day someone was born.
The following is taken from a Wiltshire Times article published on 9th November 1878 which reports a speech given during the 100-year services and to celebrate their renovations (what we now know to be the Rachel Fowler Centre).
One speaker, Rev. T. Mann, minister in Trowbridge, talked about the Chapel’s origins when he related how Rev. Honywill came to Melksham and how he’d gone on to remain as the minister for the Independent Chapel for almost 60 years. [Honywill and his family lived on King Street in what we now call “Legion House”.]
Read more on our website, the link is in our bio.")
