BEV Viveash is Melksham’s Person of the Year 2016, as voted for by local people in recognition of her volunteer work and charity fundraising.
Hundreds of votes were counted and Bev finished top of the poll in Melksham Independent News’s annual competition, which recognises people who have given the most back to the town.
Bev was nominated for her years of volunteering and raising money for charity.
She has been Brown Owl for Melksham Brownies for 23 years, runs two local knitting groups, and has helped to raise tens of thousands of pounds for Bath’s RUH in memory of her daughter Nicola, who died in 2013.
In 2016 Bev’s fund in memory of Nic, which is contributing to the new cancer care centre at the hospital, topped £10,000. She is also the chair of the local RUH fundraising group, which has raised around £40,000.
On winning, Bev said, “I was so surprised to get the call, then felt really pleased when it had sunk in! A lot of what I have achieved I couldn’t have done without the help of others, so thank you to all my friends and family who have been so brilliant.
“I will keep raising money for the hospital because I want that cancer unit built. My fundraising has been so well supported by local people and it’s important to me to be able to do it in Nic’s memory. The work doesn’t stop here!”
Ian Drew, editor of Melksham Independent News, presented the winner’s shield to Bev last week.
Ian said, “Congratulations to Bev on winning our Person of the Year award for 2016. Bev has raised an extraordinary amount of money for the RUH, as well as volunteering to run other groups in the town. This award is all about recognising people who give a lot back to their community so Bev is certainly a worthy winner. All our nominees this year were deserving and all make significant contributions to the town and the brilliant community spirit we have here in Melksham.”
Other nominees this year were rail campaigner Graham Ellis; AFC Melksham disabled football club organisers Brian and Jean Evans; Young Melksham founder Jon Hubbard; food bank manager Hilary McFall; and deputy town clerk Miriam Zaccarelli.
![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=gXZQJoHTNiEQ7kNvwHezuPI&_nc_oc=AdlrJvMDapuork_EjycPOcegNeMnCA37GEIudkxkTeCfTgvB5iijE05ojpwlYCd5gN8&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr6-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=0ZY31jxOGx2M8z1ZqYNvEg&oh=00_AfPY_C0B8EndpVcx78sVp9qVJgtm368WREf36ZX1_jO3mg&oe=6855C74A "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.")
