COME along and see the town’s superb new community facility when Cirencester Town FC officially open their third generation (3G) artificial grass pitch on Sunday, August 27, as part of a fun all-day community event.

The ceremonial unveiling will take place at 1pm, ahead of a charity match to raise funds for the local Longfield Hospice.

Morning festivities start at 9.30am with two 9-a-side Under-12 games being played on adjacent halves of the pitch.

At 11.15am it is the turn of the U16s who will play an 11-a-side match on the full pitch.

Just last week, the Non League newspaper reported: “Cirencester Town have no ordinary 3G pitch, this is the best I’ve ever seen.”

Visitors to the town for this weekend’s Phoenix Music Festival are just a few minutes away and would be more than welcome to see what is going on at the new-look Cirencester Town FC.

After the ceremonial ribbon-cutting, the Cirencester Pilgrims of the Cotswold Churches League will take centre stage for their charity game against a Cotswold Premier League XI at 2pm.

The game is being played in memory of Carl Cox, father of one of the players, and although entry is free all day, there will be a bucket collection and there is a just giving link

http://www.justgiving.com/cirencesterpilgrimsfc?utm_id=25 .

The Pilgrims will also be holding a raffle (tickets can be bought on the day) to raise money for Longfield Hospice with a huge number of prizes to be won.

There will be lots of activities taking place with plenty of interest for families and children.

A grant from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund enabled Cirencester Town to replace their grass pitch, which was prone to waterlogging, with a state-of-the-art 3G surface.

It will prove a valuable addition to the area’s community sports hub and is expected to boost overall football participation at the site by 73 percent.

Among the teams expected to use it, along with the hosts club's large range of age-group teams, are: Fairford & Lechlade Youth FC, Cirencester Pilgrims FC, Stroud FC, Stratton YFC, South Cerney YFC and Ashton Keynes FC.

The Gloucestershire FA will also work in partnership with Cirencester College to deliver coaching development, FA Skills and Just Play sessions.

The project was made possible thanks to a £369,383 grant from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, which is delivered by the Football Foundation.

Since 2000 the Football Foundation funding partners’ investment has provided 294 grants worth £16.2m towards grassroots sports projects worth more than £44.5m across Gloucestershire.

Founded in 2000, the Football Foundation is the largest sports charity in the UK funded by the Premier League, The FA and the government via Sport England.

The Cirencester pitch can be hired at a starting price of £55 an hour (for a half-pitch).