Town awards for pandemic volunteers & air cadet leader

THE winners of Melksham’s Group of the Year and Person of the Year 2020 have been revealed!

Melksham Community Support, the volunteer service set up in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, has been awarded Group of the Year and Flight Lieutenant Greg McKay, who is the Officer Commanding 2385 (Melksham) Squadron Air Training Corps has been chosen as Person of the Year.

The winners of the competitions, run by Melksham News, were chosen by a panel of judges; Melksham’s mayor cllr Pat Aves, chair of Melksham Without Parish Council, Richard Wood, Person of the Year 2019, Sue Mortimer, and Melksham News editor, Ian Drew, following nominations made by local people.

Group of the Year winners, Melksham Community Support – which was initially a joint project run and funded by the Melksham Area Board, Melksham Town Council, Melksham Without Parish Council and Age Friendly Melksham – was nominated for their efforts to support vulnerable and isolated residents in the community

Over 400 volunteers have so far helped over  760 local residents since the first national lockdown was imposed in March, helping to deliver prescriptions, make friendly phone calls, undertake shopping trips and walking people’s dogs. Volunteers also made and delivered Christmas dinners on Christmas Day for people living alone.

“The group has really pulled the community closer together, new friends have been made through it and the support given has been invaluable to so many.  This group truly shows what a wonderful community we have,” said one of their nominators.

Accepting the award on behalf of the volunteer service, Phillipa Huxtable – co-ordinator for Age Friendly Melksham, the organisation now responsible for the volunteer scheme – told Melksham News, “This is fantastic news – all of the hard work has been done mostly by volunteers – a fantastic group of volunteers who have been out there putting themselves at risk to help others, lots of vulnerable people in our community who have found it really difficult to stay at home for such a long length of time. 

“It can be frightening for some, and people have struggled, but our volunteers have really stepped up. Without the volunteers, none of this would have happened, so we are hugely grateful to them.”

Person of the Year, Greg McKay, who has been with Melksham’s local air cadets squadron for five years, was nominated for his ongoing support to local cadets throughout the pandemic.

“I am flabbergasted!”  Greg told  Melksham News, after hearing about his award. “This  is a honour – it has been one hell of a year for everybody, and there are so many worthy people of this award in the town – everybody has pulled together to deliver.

“But I couldn’t have done this without the support of the volunteer team at the squadron. It’s no small feat what the squadron has achieved this year. It is a privilege to lead them.”

The member of the public who nominated him wrote, “Since the announcement of the first national lockdown in March last year, Greg and his team have worked hard to keep all cadets engaged with the squadron. He hand-delivered all cadets a pack of information and learning, regularly checked on the welfare of cadets and staff during lockdown, and helped deliver a twice-weekly online training programme, as well as organising online social nights and ‘motivational chats.’

“The online training programme has also been rolled out to nearby squadrons and this week is being rolled out to the whole of Dorset and Wiltshire, meaning the Melksham squadron is “single-handedly” delivering the “squadron experience” to over 800 cadets.

“This has been very challenging but he never gave up on delivering on his promise to keep us all together. His attitude and determination is a credit to our town.” 

Runners up

The other nominees for Person of the Year 2020 were: Richard Bell and Dee Phesse from Melksham Link for their efforts to keep the volunteer driver service going through the pandemic; Bruce Sanders and Diane Tandy who recently retired from Autoline Service Station, for going the extra mile for customers and the community during the pandemic, helping isolated people with their shopping; Chris and Karen Freeman, who are also known as MC 3man and DJ Miss Special K, for their online lockdown concerts; fish market trader Ken Langley for his commitment and service to Melksham’s Tuesday market; Rob Johnston for the support he gives, via his Facebook page, to Melksham Mental Health; Paul Carter from Paul’s Taxis, for his volunteer work during the pandemic to support the community; Miriam Zaccarelli for her volunteer work with Melksham Community Support and her community engagement projects including the Window of Thanks; Linda de Santiz for her volunteer work with Melksham in Bloom and her photography throughout the pandemic, which helped connect isolated residents with nature; Jon Hubbard for his work with Young Melksham and for his work setting  up the Melksham Community Support response; Stevie Cooke for leading Melksham Sews Together, making personal protection items for local key workers; Teresa Strange for her role in helping to set up Melksham Community Support, and her support of local groups in her role as parish clerk for Melksham Without Parish Council; and Jac Brady for her work at a local primary school and the support she offers the community.

The other nominees for Group of the Year 2020 were: Melksham Christmas Lights Group for their work to ensure that the town’s Christmas lights display went ahead as planned, despite Covid restrictions; and the Melksham Without Parish Council staffing team for their “tireless” support of the community.