At last night’s (Monday 27 April) Marlborough Annual Town Meeting at the Town Hall Mayor Emily Trow presented the 2026 community Champions with their awards. She also acknowledged and recognised the residents of Marlborough for their involvement in nominating those who were awarded.
Overall there were seven Community Champions:
The Community Spirit award – to ‘Sing Along and Social’, accepted by Anna Peacock, recognising that Sing Along and Social provides a warm safe and relaxed space for a variety of people from all walks of life to come together and sing and socialise. They meet once a week on a Tuesday in the Church Hall and it is free to attend. The group embodies the spirit of community through kindness, unity and supporting each other and has a positive impact on the wellbeing of all those that attend.
The Health and Wellbeing Hero award – to the Marlborough Community Fridge volunteers. This is a parrtnership between the Town Council and Transition Marlborough where the team of eighteen volunteers give up their time each week to cover fridge shifts and collect food from shops and outlets in the evenings, every week of the year. Across 2025 alone the fridge distributed 5 tonnes and 6 kilograms of food – equivalent to a large bull African elephant!
The Educator award – to Holly Gordon. Holly has supported a student at Marlborough St Mary’s since Reception and because of this he is able to attend school full-time and truly belong. She ensures activities are accessible to him and that he can participate as a valued member of the class. She works seamlessly with therapy input and instinctively knows when he needs a quieter space. Her kindness, professionalism and unwavering belief in him have transformed his school journey.
The Business Community Engagement award – to Roger Grant. To many, Roger is just MantonFest. Yes. He is the ‘Impressario’ of what is one of Marlborough’s favourite and best attended events of the year but Roger’s input goes far further. Frequently under the banner of ‘MantonFest’, but he organises and manages a range of events that raise much needed funds for a variety of charities, such as Jubilee Centre, Prospect and more.
The Youth Leader award – to Jessica Caudle. Jess is a Brownie and Guide leader who works full time and runs both units after work on a Wednesday. She is inspiring to the young girls and plans a wonderful engaging programme for them. She ensures they learn new skills from First Aid to sign language, putting up tents in Savernake Forest, learning how to play cricket, going on a night hike and taking part in The Big Plastic Count to name a few.
The Young Person Who Has Mada A Difference award – to Mathilde Scheepers. Mathilde has shown outstanding development and leadership skills in her role as Chair of Marlborough Youth Council. She chairs meetings, leads discussions and keeps the group on track. She has fully immersed herself in the role and now even has a seat at Full Town Council meetings ensuring that the voices of young people are not lost in local decision making.
The Volunteer Of The Year award – to Marilyn Mason. Marilyn has been training the beginners at Marlborough accordion orchestra and the Phoenix Brass band for over 20 years. To enable this she organises jumble sales and car boot sales to raise funds to buy instruments so the band and orchestra can continue to thrive. Everyone is welcome and Marlborough is a much richer place culturally and socially because of her commitment and hard work.
all pIcs: Marlborough Town Council
Women’s County Cricket comes to Marlborough: Wiltshire v Berkshire at Savernake
