A NEW sports pavilion in Uley will receive its official opening on Monday (May 5), 15 years after fund-raising started.

The new Uley Playing Field Pavilion is the second of this name to be built at Shadwell Playing Field. And its development has mirrored that of the structure it has replaced, with the previous pavilion, erected in 1961, also taking 15 years to take shape.

The first pavilion was built to honour the memory of men of the village killed during the Second World War. Forty years after opening the building was beginning to show its age and, in 1999, local stonemason Wayne Fisher and his colleague Jeremy Williams began a weekly lottery to raise funds for a new structure.

They raised an amazing £50,000 over 10 years, and in 2012 a new committee took over the fund-raising, completing the £205,000 needed with donations and grants. The new pavilion was completed in October last year and now, 15 years after the first lottery was drawn, the official opening is being celebrated.

The ceremony will be performed by Dame Gillian Lynne, and John Hollister from Yate, the son of Tom Hollister who was one of the Uley men killed during the war, will be guest of honour.

The event will be marked with old-fashioned fun, including welly throwing, tug of war, the drinking of Uley bitter and the consumption of hot dogs, and villagers, friends and lottery participants.