MELKSHAM Town has reached its £10,000 fund-raising target which will help keep the club afloat during the Covid-19 crisis.
Club General Manager Darren Perrin said the support from the local community had been ‘staggering’.
“It just shows what Melksham is all about,” he told Melksham News.
“The town has rallied round the football club in very, very difficult times.
“I’ve got to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated – all the fans, all the ex players, ex-committee members and so many other people. We are absolutely astounded by their generosity.
“The support of the Melksham community and supporters has been remarkable and just shows what a close-knit community we have.
“These are unprecedented times for the club; we have probably never seen such a threat to our existence in our 144-year history.
“Since the middle of March we’ve had no income; we’ve lost all our gate receipts plus five county cup finals which were planned at the ground, while off the pitch, all the business meetings, weddings and functions in the InfiLED Stadium have been cancelled plus the 10k run which was a big fund-raiser.
“We’ve furloughed all our three staff including myself but the bills are still coming in; there are a lot of overheads and utility bills that still need to paid – maintaining the 14 pitches and looking after the stadium is an expensive operation. And that’s why we launched the fund-raising campaign.
“Through the efforts of our voluntary ground staff, we have got arguably the best playing surface in the league and this takes a lot of work to maintain plus we’ve got the youth and training pitches – 14 pitches in all – that need looking after so we are massively thankful for the support we’ve had.
“There’s currently no end in site to the current situation so the outlook is very concerning but with the fantastic support we’ve got, we will come out of this a stronger club.
“Once we’ve all come through this, we will be looking for a way of to thanking all of our supporters, sponsors, players, volunteers and staff with some sort of event.”
To donate, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/blackandyellowfamily
