Awards for Frome’s ‘People of the Year’

WINNERS of Frome Times’ Group of the Year and Person of the Year 2022 are a singing group for people with memory loss and dementia, and a stalwart of Frome local radio.

Frome Group of the Year, Songs for the Memory, is a local group which uses music to support people living with memory and dementia difficulties, and their carers. Frome Person of the Year, Rupert Kirkham, is a director and presenter for the local community radio station, Frome FM.

The winners of the competition, run by Frome Times, were chosen by Frome’s mayor cllr Sara Butler and Frome Times editor Ian Drew, following nominations made by local people.

Songs for the Memory was nominated for providing a free, valuable and essential service to those with dementia and their carers in and around Frome.

Their nomination said, “We are very lucky to have such a group in Frome as it provides not only fantastic stimulation for the members who have dementia, but also for their carers, who enjoy the social element of the weekly meets.

“The committee and the volunteers work hard to provide such a brilliant service to the members of our community and all free of charge to attend. It’s a wonderful group that would be very missed as there is a lack of groups within Frome aimed at people with dementia.”

Speaking about the award, one of the organisers Janet Knowles said, “I couldn’t believe it when I got the phone call, I had to sit down! It’s just brilliant that someone thinks we are doing a good enough job here to be nominated, let alone win it!”

Another organiser, Debbie Webster added, “It’s nice to be recognised, but we don’t do this to make ourselves feel good, we want to improve the day-to-day lives of those with dementia, as well as providing a social element for the carers, and groups such as ours are a great way to sharpen your mind and keep social. The members were also very happy to hear the news!”

Frome Person of the Year, Rupert Kirkham, was nominated for leading Frome’s own radio station, FromeFM. His achievements have including guiding the radio station to a bronze award at the national Community Radio Awards, as well as sourcing vital grant funding for a youth project in radio production.

His nomination said, “Rupert is a volunteer, director and presenter and he has presented the All About Frome Show since 2016. Over the last 12 months, All About Frome has featured over 200 community organisations from Frome and it was even recognised nationally at the Community Radio Awards.

“This year, Rupert has obtained grant funding and led a programme to run a radio production course for 15–18-year-old young adults from Frome. This teen radio show project is called the F. Radio project. To date, students have been training every week to master the studio and location recording, preproduction, editing and live on-air presentation processes and are now producing two radio shows, which air alternate weeks at 5pm on Wednesdays on FromeFM.”

Speaking about the award, Rupert said, “I feel honoured to have won the award, I can’t imagine who would have nominated me, but I am very grateful to whoever it is. The competition must have been fierce as there are so many great people that do their bit in the town that deserve this award as well.

“I’d just like to thank not only all the volunteers at FromeFM, but also to everyone that has supported us and listened to us over the years, this award really is a group effort.

“The main aim of what we do here at FromeFM is to get the town talking to each other so that everyone’s support network can be built upon, and we can make Frome more of a close-knit community. This is why I started the All About Frome series and I was thrilled when it won a national radio award.”

FromeFM is a Frome based non-profit community radio station run by Frome Community Productions CIC. Produced by over 100 members, it broadcasts new programmes every month online and on 96.6FM.

If you would like to get involved with Frome FM, you can become a member by visiting: http://frome.fm/get-involved/

Runners up

The other nominees for Person of the Year 2022 were: Colin Wisbey who has tirelessly worked to catalogue the inventory of Frome Museum; Radek Evans for his involvement in so many different local organisations, as well as collecting a tonne of food from supermarkets for local people on Christmas Eve; Helen Sprawson White for her voluntary work with the local cancer counselling charity We Hear You and Frome Community Hospital; Terri Pitts for his involvement with the community fridges; Morag Stuart for her involvement with Frome Community Cars; Jess Francombe for the work she does to connect women and mums in Frome through multiple community initiatives, and Peter Barkwill who helped garner sufficient funds towards the new Santa Float through the Wainwright Futures Foundation, as well as supporting many different local community organisations.

The other nominees for Group of the Year were: Committee of Frome Friendship Club for providing enrichment for over 100 members; Frome Lions Club for raising thousands of pounds for the local community; Frome Foodbank for helping hundreds of people and families in and around Frome, as well as contributing to the Big Christmas Get Together, and the volunteers at the Old Showfield parkrun for their commitment and dedication to putting on the event over the years.

Songs for the Memories

The Songs for the Memory group meet every Tuesday from 1.30pm to 3pm at the Masonic Hall, North Parade. For more information contact 01373 466367, email songsforthememoryfrome@gmail.com, or contact them through their Facebook page at Songs for the Memory- Frome.

The sessions usually start with tea or coffee and a chance to chat. The group then gathers to sing a range of songs from the Beatles to Frank Sinatra and those ever-popular tunes from shows and musicals. Music and words are provided, and organisers say there is something for everyone.

Songs for the Memory is led by experienced professional music therapist, Julie Britton, supported by several volunteers. They are all keen to point out the physical and mental benefits of singing for people with dementia, which is confirmed by medical research. It encourages people to breathe more deeply, to engage their brains and voices, and to have fun in a stimulating environment.