East Leake
ROTARY SANTA FLOAT. The Rotary Santa Float will be in East Leake, today, Wednesday, December 11, at Brookfields Way and then Northfields Way.
AWARD FOR GYMNASTICS CLUB. East Leake based Kingston Vale Gymnastics Club have added to their many previous awards by being judged the Rushcliffe Sports Team of the Year, taking the top award in its section in the annual ‘Celebrating Rushcliffe Awards’ presentation event held at the Becket School at West Bridgford.
The various award winners and all those who had been shortlisted nominees for the 2019 Rushcliffe event organised by Rushcliffe Borough Council and supported by Nottingham Forest FC of this year’s were praised for their contribution to life in the Borough.
Residents, groups and community heroes took their place in an 11 category showcase at The Becket School with lead sponsors Nottingham Forest and media partner West Bridgford Wire.
The event celebrated the Borough’s volunteers, businesses, clubs, organisations, environmentalists, sports teams and athletes , the best of its health and wellbeing and food and drink sectors.
The non-competitive East Leake-based Kingston Vale Club Gymnastics Club stood out ”for the way it encourages boys and girls of all ages to enjoy the sport and develop and showcase their talents at local displays around the country and overseas.” Coaches were noted for their ability to nurture a family feel at the club.
The club are taking 40 gymnasts aged from 10 years to 23 years to Gran Canaria to take part in the Blume Festival. They will be showcasing their display to the music from The Greatest Showman including acrobatics, tumbling and vaulting
The club has been established for more than 30 years and has been run by Donna Parsons and Zoe Palmer since 1991. In 2007 Jamie Parsons set up the boys’ branch of the club under the name of KV Boys.
The club have five display teams KV Junior Boys and Kingston Vale Tornados for the younger gymnasts, Kingston Vale Hawks for girls ages 10 upwards and KV senior boys and Kingston Vale senior girls are the elite display teams.
The Celebrating Rushcliffe Awards are nominated by members of the public to acknowledge their unsung heroes in the community. This year saw a record number of nominations for many worthy groups and individuals.
Kingston Vale beat the other shortlisted teams ( West Bridgfordians U13 cricket team and Rushcliffe Athletics Club) to win the Sports Team of the Year Award.
The club trains at East Leake Leisure Centre with classes for boys and girls of all ages and abilities.
Nottingham Forest Chairman Nicholas Randall QC said: “We were delighted to sponsor the Celebrating Rushcliffe Awards and pleased to support an event that highlighted such incredible achievements by so many individuals, teams and organisations in the place we call home.
“It is vitally important to us to ensure we play our part in the community. Ultimately everyone shortlisted for an award here this evening is a winner for what they contribute to life in Rushcliffe.”
The Mayor of Rushcliffe Cllr Christine Jeffreys said: “I am proud to be the first citizen of a borough that has such wonderful people at its heart who were showcased here at the awards.
“It was a most special night for the Borough celebrating so many achievements and highlighted in many cases the incredible voluntary hours people put in to make such a big difference in our communities.
“Congratulations to everyone shortlisted for these wonderful awards.”
All the winners and shortlisted nominees were announced and as well as receiving their awards celebrated with a short film about their achievements. Kingston Vale Gymnastics Club coaches Zoe Parsons, Jamie Parsons and Zoe Palmer collected their club’s award from David Simms of Champions (UK) Ltd, the company which sponsored the sports’ team of the year award.
CHRISTMAS NIGHTS SWITCH ON. Hundreds of people – of all ages – packed the streets of the village centre at East Leake for this years’ Christmas lights switch on event turning the grey misty and cold night into one of super festive seasonal atmosphere.
Many of the village centre shops were open and were packed with people both before and after the switch-on had taken place.
Star guest for the evening was Santa Claus who arrived in style on a festive decorated sleigh and who had more than one job to do when he paid the first ‘official’ Santa visit for 2019 to the village. He had a double duty to undertake, for as well as giving the signal to switch on the village Christmas lights he was also there to give one well known village resident a big surprise.
Before switching on the lights he called for parish council chairman Conrad Oatey to step forward from the crowd to become the third recipient of the new “East Leake Community Award”, a trophy purchased by donations from residents of East Leake and which is now being awarded each year in recognition of someone who makes the village a better community in which to live.
The first recipient was local business woman Mel Roper who was closely involved in organising the overall lights event while the second year it went to Kevin Shaw, former parish clerk and now a councillor for both the parish and Rushcliffe Borough Council. Now Conrad, who as well as being chairman of the parish council is also chairman of the Patients Participation Group in the village and a churchwarden at St Mary’s parish church. Conrad was one of nearly twenty names that had been put forward by parishioners for the award and had received most votes from the village.
Conrad, in receiving the award, said that he was delighted to be receiving it and thanked everyone who had voted for him after being told that his nomination highlighted the fact that it was
in recognition by residents of the he gives up so much of his time to help make East Leake a better place in which to live and work.
Other nominees for the award were:
Simon Ackroyd, Rebecca Astill, Jenny De Villers, East Leake Community Action Group, East Leake Traders, Dr Neil Fraser, Hannah Freer, Friends of Meadow Park, Heather Gill, Rachel Goldby, Maggie Gordon, Hayley Masom , Jenny Mellors, Sonya Oates, Jacquie Owen, Mel Roper, Vicenta Rose, Ady Somerville , Ann Weekly.
The switch on event itself saw Father Christmas arrive in the village amid tremendous excitement and to a big cheer from scores and scores of youngsters, many of them sporting the traditional red Santa hat while some were even dressed as young Santa’s.
The real Santa had to force his way through the mass of people who blocked the centre of the village, aided by the fact the parish council had arranged a sixty-minute road closure on the Main Street.
He performed the switch on - or at least gave the instructions to the various people including parish clerk Neil Lambert who had been given the responsibility to illuminate three sets of lights – after the usual 10-9-8-7-6-54-3-2-1 count down had been enthusiastically performed by everyone in the village centre.
This was the seventh annual event and which is obviously becoming more and more popular each year and before Santa’s arrival there had been carol singing with the Charnwood Concert Band proving then music.
After the switch on there was dancing to the taped music of carols on the closed-to-traffic main street and scores and scores of people remained in the village centre long after the lights had come on.
There was a real festive feeling in the village, with the activities starting in the morning at the village hall with a massively popular festive Craft Fair organised by Jacquie Owen that offered a room full of over 20 stalls with all kinds of festive goods on sale, mostly involving East Leake residents and organisations, all showing off and selling their handicraft goods.
At times it was almost impossible to get into the hall because there were so many people there.
Following the success of the last three years the Santa Fun Run was again part of the activities of the day. It began at Meadow Park and where those taking part had two options, a 3km route through the park or 1.5km one.
Entries were taken at the premises of Physioneeds at 71 Main Street and nearly 50 competitors had been signed in.
The very popular bear hunt competition that traders in the village organised came to a head for the lights switch-on and around 50 bears that had been on display in the various shops and businesses in the run-up to the event have been involved and for most of this month .
East Leake Traders Association organised the competition and entrants needed to make contact with each of those taking part to find out the name of the particular bear associated with each one. Those with the most correct answers were entered into a Prize Draw to win one of the Bears.
Mel Roper, joint organiser of the event with Hayley Masom - she was busy creating a pictorial record of it - manned one the road closure points as well as answer scores of questions and comments from those at the event.
MC for the event was again Tracey Waterfield, who did a superb job in telling the hundreds of people what was happening and keeping them superbly entertained with her very lively presentation.
ELECTION POLLING STATIONS. The village hall at East Leake will host two polling stations and the village Leisure Centre one as the two venues take on their usual stance for an election day tomorrow when voting will be taking place in the two venues for the General Election
Doors at both voting stations will open for electors at 7am and remain so unti.10pm.
The votes cast during the15 hour period will be sealed in the voting boxes and taken to Rushcliffe Arena in West Bridgford for counting. The result of the poll will be expected at sometime after 2am on Friday morning.
Candidates for the seat which has been held by the Conservatives since 1970 are: Jason Richard Billin, Liberal Democrat, Ruth Rosamond Edwards , Conservative, Matthew Eric Faithfull, UK Independence Party (UKIP), John William Kirby, Independent, and Cheryl Jacqueline Pidgeon, Labour.
Ken Clarke, who has stood down for the election tomorrow, became MP after the seat for Rushcliffe had been held for four years by East Leake resident Tony Gardner. who himself had taken it from long serving Conservative Martin Redmayne in 1966. LEARNING TO HEDGE-LAY.
Staff from local employer British Gypsum swapped logistics expertise for woodland management skills for a day – learning the ancient craft of hedge laying in Bunny Wood.
The company’s distribution team spent the day volunteering under the expert guidance of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT) who manage this nature reserve.
One of the volunteering team, British Gypsum’s distribution improvement manager, Kirk Ennis said: “Our company has had a longstanding partnership with the Wildlife Trust and Bunny Wood is located close to our head office site at East Leake. In addition, the reserve is based on land donated by British Gypsum to the Trust. So, it made sense for us to work with them on a project in Bunny Woods.
“It was fascinating learning about how to lay hedges and the benefits they bring in terms of wildlife and supporting the eco-system in the Woods.”
The hedge laying involved bending and splicing the stems of shrubs and small trees, historically to form livestock proof barriers, but more often today to provide a growing habitat for wildlife.
NWT’s Southern Reserves Manager, Chris Kennedy added: “The team worked very hard and were rewarded with a professional and expertly laid hedge, which in time will benefit all sorts of wildlife from toads and frogs, to mice and voles and hedge nesting birds.
“A thoroughly enjoyable day and I look forward to welcoming the team back next year.”
*Bunny Wood is referred to in the Domesday Book and was probably used by Saxon settlers as a source of wood. In 1487, Henry VII and his army camped nearby on their way to the Battle of East Stoke. Coppiced ash is very common here and field maple is widespread. Great and lesser spotted woodpeckers are amongst the 50 bird species recorded.
FOOTBALL PARKING CONGESTION. Plans to tackle parking congestion at Costock Road Playing Fields in East Leake when football matches are in progress are being developed by East Leake Parish Council.
Currently cars have to park on Costock Road whenever several football matches are taking place especially on Sunday mornings when the car park is full.
Coun. Conrad Oatey, the chairman of East Leake Parish Council, hopes that this situation will change within the next 18 months when improvements are made.
Some while ago East Leake Parish Council bought derelict land opposite the sports fields and draft plans have been drawn up to construct an additional car park to accommodate about 90 cars on this land. The car park could be extended at a later date if the demand for parking increases.
Funding the proposed new car park is currently an issue. Mr. Oatey explains:” Having spent funding on extending the Health Centre Car Park, and more recently the
Gotham Road Car Park, the Parish Council still needs a bit more money.”
The Chairman hopes funds will be in place to ensure that the car park work will be completed for the 2020/21 football season.
POLICE BEAT SURGERY. East Leake Library is to host a police beat surgery on Wednesday next week, December 18, from 10am to 11am.
PCSO Tony Davies says the surgery is open to anyone from the public to attend and they look forward to seeing a good number of visitors.