PICKERING Town chairman Wayne Taylor has said he is “absolutely overwhelmed” by their fans’ fundraising efforts, helping to make up the club’s £12,000 shortfall.

As of May 27, Pickering had received almost £3,500 in donations while also being given a £2,300 Sport England grant. The funds are vital for the club, who missed out on five home games when the season was expunged in March.

Speaking to the club’s website, Taylor said: “I am absolutely overwhelmed by the response and people’s generosity to the JustGiving page and I can’t thank them enough.

“I also think it is important to explain my reasons for increasing the target.

“We are actively looking for more sponsors and I am hopeful that we will be successful in attracting some new income, but when the season was finished, and I know this has been mentioned previously, the club lost the revenue from five home games, the fundraising evening at Flamingoland, a race night and the Golf Day, which probably would have raised us in the region of £6,000

to £7,000.

“We also lost a major sponsor who has in the past contributed to the travel costs, so our shortfall was in the region of £11,000 to £12,000, which obviously made a considerable difference to our income. We have always tried to be prudent in our spending and will continue to be so, but unfortunately the abrupt end to everything just made the cash flow situation a little difficult.

“It is also important to remember that another major sponsor has had his income stream cancelled for the foreseeable future, so for the time being we must act very cautiously.

“I still remain hopeful that many of our sponsors, board advertisers, will continue to support us, as we have always tried to create a reasonably-priced package for everybody.”

Moving forward, Taylor added that there is “absolutely no way” that Pickering could play behind closed doors though he said he was “more hopeful now than I was (previously)” about the 2020/21 season going ahead.

He added that talks are ongoing over pre-season friendlies and player signings, though they are not in a position to confirm either of these yet.