Malmesbury Town Council held its Annual Town Meeting on Thursday 28th April which ended with the Citizen of The Year Awards.
Brothers Ben and Josh Thornbury won Young Citizen and Junior citizen of the year for all of their efforts made in helping to keep Malmesbury neat and tidy.
The Citizen of The Year proved to be a difficult decision for Malmesbury Town Councillors as this year nominations were Margaret Lamb, Sharon Nolan, Jackie Peel, Andy Pointer and Derek Tilney. All would have been worthy winners but eventually it was Sharon Nolan who was victorious.
Sharon heads up the volunteers in Malmsbury’s Athelstan Museum and in the last year coming out of covid she was instrumental in bringing the JW Turner painting of Malmesbury Abbey to the museum and Malmesbury Coin Hoard for public viewing.
Organisation of the year was equally challenging as the nominations were strong. The Boxing Club, Malmesbury Live Arts, Parkinson’s Society, The Repair Café, Renew Malmesbury and The WI all do great things in Malmesbury. Ultimately Malmesbury Live Arts proved to be popular winners. Neil Muttock and Janet Sneddon accepted the award on behalf of the organisation.
This year The Mayor Paul Smith introduced two new awards. The first was a Commendation Award presented by Mayoress Frances Smith to Malmesbury Parkinson’s Society for over 30 years of support to sufferers of this condition. The second was The Mayors Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding service to the community.
This was presented by Paul Smith to Derek Tilney who has been involved in The Royal British Legion as Chairman for over 50 years. He also organises the annual Poppy appeal and then the Remembrance ceremony at The Town Gates.
Derek’s been involved with the Malmesbury Garden Club for many years. He organises its annual show and has played an active role in the River Valleys Trust. He is also a stalwart supporter of Malmesbury Carnival usually helping to creating floats for others. Recently he bought 1,000 packs of sunflower seeds for Malmesbury Stands with Ukraine. Derek was a very deserving winner of this award which recognises his exceptional contribution to Malmesbury over many years.
