THE dream of starting a Parkrun in Melksham is now a reality after the town's area board provided the last of the required funding last week.

In July, Melksham Without Parish Council agreed to pledge £1,000 as part of the required £3,000 target and that was then matched by the town council in late August and the area board on September 7.

For organiser Colin Goodhind, this final piece of the jigsaw puzzle marks an end to nine months of preparation and now he can look forward to organising the town's first ever Parkrun in King George Playing Field.

"I am absolutely over the moon and ecstatic with the huge backing we have had from these three bodies," he said.

"I want to thank everyone who made this possible, I am thrilled and very excited that this is actually going to happen.

"Personally I feel this will be a huge asset to the town. Everywhere a Parkrun has gone, it has just taken off spectacularly and hopefully that will be the case here too.

"We have reached an agreement with the nearby Sainsbury's and Waitrose in regards to parking but having said that, many people are very keen to walk down themselves.

"We have filled our quota of volunteers to make this happen, we have the required funding, there is nothing that can stop us now."

On September 19th or 26th, a 6.30pm meeting, that is open to the public, will take place at Canberra Centre, Spa Road, with the events director of Southwick's Parkrun, Sean Price, to put together the final touches.

Cllr Jon Hubbard said: "This is such an exciting prospect and one that I think can be a huge success. It will encourage people to visit the town as well as provide a great facility and opportunity to exercise.

"What is really telling is that there has been unanimous support from the area board, Melksham Without and the town council - they have all fully embraced it and backed the great work that Colin has done.

"I am so pleased that this final hurdle has been completed and now we can look forward to actually setting a date.

"If we can get it up and running by the end of the year, and make the most of the last good weather, that would be fantastic."

The county’s closest Parkruns to Melksham in Wiltshire are Southwick Country Park, Trowbridge, and in Monkton Park, Chippenham.