Pub community raises over £2,000 in support of local teen

A fundraiser at a Melksham pub has raised over £2,000 for an appeal at Bristol Children’s Hospital in support of a local teenager with leukaemia.

The Pig and Whistle on Woodrow Road raised £2,148 for The Grand Appeal at Bristol Children’s Hospital, which funds equipment, free family accommodation and arts and play therapy.

The event was held in support of 15-year-old Jake Reece-Shepard, a student at Melksham Oak Community School, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in October last year.

The event drew strong local support and was organised by couple Shelly and Justin, alongside pub landlords Bev and Nick.

Fundraising highlights included virtual horse racing, Nick and Jake having their heads shaved, and a chest wax by another local man, all in front of a packed pub.

Jake’s mum, Becks, has praised how the community has come together.

She said, “This time in our lives has been horrendous. They say it takes a village, and in times like this, those people who attended the event are my village. It’s just been absolutely amazing how people have all come together.”

The event was the second fundraiser the pub has hosted in support of the family. The first, held before Christmas, raised funds to cover travel costs for Jake to get to Bristol Children’s Hospital for treatment.

Becks added, “When Jake was diagnosed in October, we got rushed to Bristol Children’s Hospital and they began chemotherapy the next day. Jake has had three rounds of chemotherapy now. The first round was intense and it destroys your immune system. He then got a really bad infection through that which turned to sepsis. The infection that he had started eating away at the back of his calf on his leg, so he has had to have five surgeries on that and he has had to have a skin graft which is still currently trying to heal at the moment.

“The Bristol Children’s Hospital have just been amazing with Jake.”

Bev from the Pig and Whistle said they would be holding more events to support the family. “It’s absolutely amazing how the community all comes together when you say you’re doing a charity event,” she added.