You can do a lot in 24 hours. Most people sleep, get up, go to work, feed the family, relax and then sleep again. Some people however, go that extra mile to make our community a better place. Last weekend, some 678 sturdy volunteers took part in a 24-hour rowing marathon in aid of Frome’s local cancer charity We Hear You (WHY). Each volunteer managed to row at least 500m on a static rowing machine as part of a continuous, non-stop event, which will hopefully be confirmed as a new world record. Visitors to the monthly Independent Market were entertained and happily contributed to this worthy cause. As the town Mayor, and on behalf of the whole town council and citizens of Frome I want to say a massive “thank you” to everyone involved.
One person in particular deserves special praise for Frome’s World Record Rowing Team – Rachel Clark, for organizing and inspiring everyone to do something special for others. That was a truly awesome effort, which must have taken a lot longer than 24 hours to put together. Thank you Rachel!
Earlier on Saturday, the Carnival Fun Day featured more local volunteers and a range of fundraising activities, in aid of the September processions. Another fabulous community minded Frome event.
Just 24 hours after the amazing world record attempt, an Austrian radio station wanted to know about the work of the local Health and Community Connectors based at Frome Health Centre. Community connectors are helping to keep people out of hospital through exercise classes and social get togethers. Their work, part funded by the town council has seen a significant 17% reduction in emergency admissions since 2014. The basic idea is to get connected to the support that is available in the community. Volunteers are always welcome. To find out more, visit www.healthconnectionsmendip.org.
