BEER and cider lovers are being encouraged to throw their support behind a brand new festival in Wroughton all in aid of raising money for the Ellendune Community Centre.

The inaugural festival will showcase some of the finest ales and tastiest beverages in the region when it opens its doors to the public on November 4.

Now, organisers behind the event hope to show people who attend that they will not only enjoy a good brew but they will also be helping secure the future of dozens of other community events in the pipeline.

Tracey Masters started as manager of the Ellendune in January and hopes the village gives their backing to the beer and cider festival.

“When we started back in January, we picked up the historic bookings and the way the system is run and we all came in with the same vision to make the community more of a thriving hub and put on more events and hopefully to branch out with that to do stuff where we can do free things for the community," she said. "But to do that we need to cover the costs of the building and the general day-to-day running costs.

“We thought doing a fundraiser like a beer and cider festival would be a good idea.

“We have a large venue and so thought why not give it a go and see what happens?

“We are trying to celebrate things locally but also far-reaching ones to."

Around 12 lines of beer and 10 ciders will be on offer to thirsty well-wishers on the day from a whole host of breweries including Old Town Brewery and Cricklade’s Hop Kettle Brewery Company.

Two special brews will also be on tap on the day, one named Ellendune and the other the Wroughton Special – all produced by Three Castles Brewery in Pewsey.

Tickets cost £10 which includes £3 worth of drink vouchers, a souvenir festival beer glass as well as a programme.

The festival is just one inventive way the team is looking to expand its reach in the community after Tracey opened up the Tuesday night film screening to all and has plans to start a Saturday cinema club for children.

“It is important that the beer festival is a success because it will help subsidise the other events we are doing and hope to do," Tracey added.

“Without the income from the centre and the fundraiser, we can’t do things like the Saturday cinema. At some point in the future, I want to provide a Christmas dinner on Christmas for people in the village who may be lonely or do not have family.

“Whilst all these ideas we have are a great thing, we are still a charity and the centre costs have to be covered irrespective of the event.

“We have our old style plastic chairs and I want to try and upgrade them as well so it is little things like that which we want to work on.”

The beer and cider festival will be held on November 4 between 12pm and 10pm.

Tickets are available by calling 01793 813307 or emailing ellendunehalltrust@btconnect.com.