AFTER years of hard work and lots of paperwork, the team behind Malmesbury’s skatepark has now received charitable status.

The announcement made on Saturday means that the group will be able to bid for funding to pay for insurance, a freezer for ice packs and a licence to play music.

The chairman of the new Malmesbury Skatepark Group, Matthew Wigley, 40, said that he was delighted with the news.

He and a team of volunteers took on the work of making the skatepark a charity to provide something for young people.

He said: “All the hardship that we’ve been through, when you see these kids smile it makes it all worth it.”

Despite being decades older than some of the regulars, Matthew said that they all still insisted that he got involved when he came to supervise the sessions.

“If they fall off they usually get straight back up. If I fall off it takes me about two weeks to get up again,” he joked.

The 230-square-metre extension to the town’s Gloucester Road youth centre opened in 2013 after a decade of planning, only to be closed when the council cut its youth services.

Because the operation relies on volunteers giving their time, the skatepark has not been open as often as some would like, but Matt hopes this will change.

For more information or to get involved, search for Malmesbury Skatepark on Facebook.