THE group that oversees the Riverside Community Centre in Malmesbury has been awarded charitable status – only six days after applying.

The Friends of Riverside were “delighted” to be confirmed as a charity so quickly, as the centre begins to take shape.

Riverside, situated on Gloucester Road, has had £250,000 earmarked for its renovation by Wiltshire Council as part of their community campus project.

Chairwoman of Friends of Riverside, town councillor Kim Power, said: “For a new charity, applying to the Charity Commission is quite involved.

“They expect a high level of information about what you want to do and how you will set about doing it.

“So Friends of Riverside were delighted that it only took six days from their first assessment to grant us registered charitable status.

“It’s important to us that this officially recognised status is in place when we run the new Riverside Community Centre in the New Year.

“All the trustees of Friends of Riverside have been involved in community in some capacity for many years and we are so pleased to be able to support local people with Riverside.”

The centre, which had become unused before it became Riverside, has recently received its first booking under its new name.

The booking comes from a new before and after school club for children, called the Riverside Kids Club.

“This will be geographically very close to Malmesbury Primary School, so we anticipate that it will be a very popular addition to the existing care options in the town,” said Cllr Power.

Gina Chamberlain of Riverside Kids Club, said she was “very excited” to be able to offer additional before and after school care option to parents.

She said: “Riverside Kids Club will offer the children of Malmesbury primary a fun, safe and exciting place to be while their parents are at work.”

For more information on the kids club, visit riversidekidsclub.co.uk

To find out more about the Riverside centre, visit riversidecommunitycentre.org.uk