Town council’s £6,600 boost for local groups

NEARLY £6,600 worth of small grants were awarded to local groups and projects by Melksham Town Council last month.

Groups and charities that benefited from this round of funding – the third of four rounds for the 2021/22 financial year – included Melksham Community Meals, Age UK Wiltshire, Melksham Cricket Club, Melksham 60+ Club, Proud Melksham, the Riverside Club, Melksham Community Dining and Splash Wiltshire.  

Grants awarded ranged in value from £250 up to the biggest grant of £1,360, which was given to Wiltshire Adopters – Networking, Development and Support (W.A.N.D.S) to help deliver support to adoptive families in Melksham, including a monthly arts and crafts session for children. 

Their application said, “Many of our children have sensory issues due to early childhood trauma and these sessions offer them an opportunity to fulfil their sensory needs, whilst spending time with other adopted children. It also offers parents an opportunity to meet and talk to other adoptive parents.  

“Adoption can be isolating for both our children and us as parents as there can still be misconceptions, and unkind judgment. To have access to activities like this can be a lifeline for some families – a rare moment when you are not “the different family” in the room. I cannot stress how important this feeling of belonging can be, when day-to-day life can be challenging as we help our children grow up and navigate the triggers they have to live with, due to the trauma they experienced.” 

The town council has this financial year changed its grants scheme – instead of one round of applications per year, the council considers applications quarterly. For each quarter, the town council has a budget of £6,250 to work with – £25,000 has been budgeted for the 2021/22 financial year in total.   

However, as £1,600 was not spent in the second round of funding in September, the council had £7,850 to spend for this round of funding. 

But as over £21,000 in total had been requested by the 18 applicants, some were given less than they requested, and where appropriate, some were signposted to the Melksham Area Board to seek the remainder of their grant request. 

Eleven grants were awarded, totalling £6,599.90. The £1,250 not spent in this round of funding will be rolled over to the fourth and final round for the financial year, giving the council £7,500 to spend next time. 

Other grants given by the town council included £1,150 for Splash Wiltshire, which provides youth worker support and positive activities for young people in the Melksham area facing challenges in their lives, including young victims of crime, those on child protection plans, children in care and those with special educational needs.  

And £500 was given to Age UK Wiltshire to help towards the running costs of its fortnightly Fitness and Friendship Club at Bowerhill Village Hall. 

Seven grant applications were not awarded.   

An application from Community Action Whitley and Shaw (CAWS) for £1,000 to support a Shaw and Whitley Summer Fair planned for June 2022 to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, was rejected as councillors felt there was no evidence that the event had any benefit for residents in the town council’s catchment area. 

“This is about supporting a community event taking place within the village and it’s not for us to fund,” said cllr Jon Hubbard. “So, I cannot support this.” 

Melksham Amateur Swim Club’s request for £1,000 was turned down, with cllr Saffi Rabey explaining that she felt it was ‘not appropriate’ for the town council to help pay for the training of two swim teachers. Instead, the local club was encouraged to seek funding elsewhere and was signposted to apply to Sport England. 

Melksham and District Historical Association’s application for £1,076 to help pay for Assembly Hall hire costs was turned down as councillors felt that the group had enough in their savings, just over £10,000, to cover the costs.  

The group had noted in their application that the savings were for the storage of artefacts and records and potential hall hire costs when the Assembly Hall is closed for the ‘expected refurbishing’.   

“I think they should be paying for the hall hire now,” said cllr Hubbard, “and worry about the potential refurbishing [of the Assembly Hall] when it happens. 

“If they have £10,000 in the bank, we’re going to be taking money away, not giving money to people who have an awful lot less in their bank accounts. I think they [Melksham and District Historical Association] can afford to pay for this. I say no.” 

Melksham Baptist Church’s request for £250 to help maintain the old Baptist burial ground, located by the entrance to the National Trust warehouse, was turned down. Instead, councillors felt that the work needed could be carried out by National Trust staff that use and enjoy the area. The church was also signposted to the Wiltshire Probation Trust, who offer support with projects of this kind. 

An application for £750 to help launch a new community podcast, ‘Celebrate Melksham’, was deferred to the next round of funding as more work was needed by the applicant to establish who will be involved in the project. 

Somerset and Wiltshire Advanced Motorists’ application for £2,280, to help towards support offered to motorists preparing for an advanced driving test, was turned down as councillors felt that the application was ‘bordering on being a commercial project’. 

And an application from Wiltshire Mind for £1,500, to help pay for two laptops to deliver online counselling to Melksham residents, was also declined. Cllr Hubbard commented that he felt the charity could deliver the service for ‘significantly less’ with one laptop.