Town council leader looks back at year of ‘wonderful’ community effort

Leader of Frome Town Council, cllr Anne Hills, reviewed her year at the Annual Town Meeting,  praising the town for having come together to meet the challenges of the year.

“I am so proud of the way this town has pulled together over the past year,” said cllr Hills. “It’s been a challenging year, but my naturally positive attitude means I have to focus on just some of the really wonderful things that have happened in Frome over the last year. 

“One thing is certain, our community has stepped up to the plate: our medical practises, our care homes, our schools, our shopworkers and all the other people in roles that have kept the town going, from those emptying the bins to those emptying bed pans.   

“Active and In Touch, Fair Frome, our community drivers, and all our other amazing charities and of course, our staff have been right there with them

“Frome had over 300 volunteers who came forward to help – whether to shop for a shielding neighbour, collect prescriptions, take someone to a hospital appointment, volunteer with Fair Frome, or phone someone who would otherwise be isolated. And those are just the people we could count – throughout the town there were endless acts of community and kindness.

“Sharing cupboards have started to pop up around the town, as well as the Wild About Sharing boxes that the rangers have built, and the two community fridges that we have.

“We took our place in a role of community leadership and support.  As soon as the news of the pandemic, and an impending lockdown hit, our collective thoughts turned to how we would support the most vulnerable members of our community. Leaflets and banners encouraging us to ‘check in on your five nearest neighbours’ started to build neighbourhood networks that have been growing throughout the year. 

“Our staff were able to adapt rapidly to the demands of the situation. Staff changed their role to delivering emergency food parcels.  An entire telephone hotline sprung up over night. Everyone took their turn on the rota, ensuring anxious residents and businesses were given the time and the support that they needed.

“In the summer, our rangers added a playful element to our parks mowing grass mazes in Rodden Meadow and the showfield. And there was chalk in Victoria Park to make social distancing measurements a bit more beautiful. 

“People litter picked while out on their daily exercise, or joined in on the Hoe Down to keep the town tidy  And our events, our celebrations of community couldn’t happen in the way that we would choose them too:  we couldn’t celebrate Halloween, bonfire night or the Christmas Light the Night, in our usual way, but the Halloween Window Wanderland, followed by making Christmas lanterns for our windows, were lovely substitutes. The Dress up Friday Facebook group has been joyous.

“Our community, what can I say? We had a great base to start with. But it is fair to say that during this pandemic, we supported and enabled the scale up of the community feeling and energy we already had here.”  

Following her speech at the Annual Town Meeting, cllr Hills went on to show a short video that was prepared for the Academy of Urbanists, in September last year, when they celebrated Frome as one of the previous winners of the ‘Great Town’ award.  

To view that and the rest of the meeting please go to:  https://tinyurl.com/Annual-Town-Meeting