THE FINAL preparations are being put together for the inaugural North Swindon Community Fun Day, which is taking place on Saturday.

A team of volunteers has been working hard since February to make sure everything is in place and now everything is good to go.

The only factor the organisers cannot control is the weather, so all fingers are crossed for a fine day.

Kate Harding, secretary of the organising committee, said: “It’s gone really well and everything is pretty much sorted.

“There are a lot of nerves at this stage but I think everyone is also really excited. It’s hard to believe how quickly it has come around.

“It was back in February that we had our first meeting in the library and put the committee together, and since then everything has grown very quickly.

“We had initially only planned a small event but since then so many businesses and organisations have come forward and it has grown.

“There are now 38 groups who are involved on the day and more keep coming forward.

“The only thing we are now hoping for is good weather.

“The first thing I do every day is to check the weather forecast. It’s predicting light cloud at the moment which would be perfect. As long as it stays dry we’ll be happy.”

Among the organisations there will be a host of local businesses as well as police and firefighters.

There will be an ice cream van, a tent serving traditional teas and residents will also get to throw wet sponges at some local councillors.

“The way everyone has come together to support us has been absolutely brilliant,” said Kate.

“North Swindon has loads of small businesses and sole traders and it’s been great to see flyers going up in windows. Even in the last few days we have been approached by people who want to be involved.

“Unfortunately we had to have a cut-off point to keep everything safe so we have put them on the list for next year’s event which we are hoping will be even bigger.

“Once this year is over then we will take feedback from people to find out what we did well and where we could do better.”

The event will be officially opened by the Mayoress at 12.30pm and last until 3pm.

It is taking place at Brook Park, near Red Oaks Primary School where there will be free parking.