East Leake
SPORTS PAVILION. Former East Leake parish clerk and now parish council chairman Kevin Shaw had the privilege last week of officially starting the ambitious scheme to provide a new village sports pavilion on the Costock Road playing fields. Before an invited audience of councillors and representatives of the contractors he cut the first sod to launch a start on the building work for the near £900,000 project, to provide the village with a modern facility that will be among the best in the area.
Under the leadership of the present parish clerk Sue Lewis, the simple ceremony heralded the commencement of building work for the major project, which will see the new pavilion being erected on the same site as the original one, which over the previous week had been demolished to make way for its impressive replacement.
East Leake Parish Council, along with the East Leake Playing Fields Charity, have confirmed the scheme has been awarded a grant from the English football Premier League, The Football Association and UK Government via The Football Foundation towards the much-needed rebuild of the old Pavilion, and those responsible for the East Leake project have been awarded £376,000 from the three major sources towards the overall scheme, which is expected to be going to cost in the region of £875,00 to build and furbish.
Funding for the longawaited and much needed project has also been received through important contributions from developers of the large scale housing that has and is taking place in the village.
But despite this there still is a shortfall in funds and fundraising will be taking place over the next few months to raise cash which will particularly fund the important provision of the internal fixtures and fittings for the new building. For this aspect of the scheme, the village Playing Fields Charity have launched a “Buy a Brick” scheme allowing sponsors to make a contribution in a very special way by sponsoring the charity through buying a brick for £40. Those concerned will be helping to build a future important provision for the village.
In a joint statement and invitation to help fund the exciting scheme the two local bodies say hundreds of sports people have enjoyed the facilities at the Costock Road site over the years and what better way to share happy memories of the past, and their support for the future generations of East Leake sports people, than sponsoring a brick with a loved one’s name or a family’s name on it.
The village of East Leake has grown rapidly. More than 1,000 new homes have been built in recent years, taking the population to approximately 8,000. This has happened so fast, that the village’s infrastructure hasn’t kept up. There’s a pressing need to ensure that the village has the right amenities – hence the new pavilion - to meet its sport, leisure and community needs.
The Costock Road Playing Fields cover 16 acres of land on the eastern edge of East Leake. They’re a fantastic facility, hosting the village’s main sports teams. Over the decades, they’ve been used by many thousands of children and adults for football, rugby and cricket. The site’s current building was constructed in the 1970s to provide shower and changing facilities for users of the sports pitches, as well as some space for social activities.
Known locally as the “Pavilion”, the old building was partly on two floors and partly single-storey. With its age and poor condition demolition was the only solution. In cold weather, the heating had to be left on permanently to ensure the pipes didn’t freeze.
As a result, the Pavilion was very expensive to run and its layout also limited how it could be used for social and community events.
Since 1996, management of the entire site has rested with the East Leake Playing Fields Charity (ELPFC), which was set up for that purpose. The charity owns the original five-acre sports ground and leases the rest from East Leake Parish Council. Over the years, significant sums have been invested as part of efforts to extend the life of the first Pavilion.
However, both ELPFC and the Parish Council believe that fully replacing it with a new Pavilion was the best way of creating a facility which will meet the future needs of East Leake. East Leake Playing Fields charity is contributing £25,000 towards costs of the project. The Parish Council has already paid around £33,000 towards project costs.
There is still a potential funding gap of over £200,000, for which the Parish Council is pursuing other funding options. Should the need arise, it may be possible for the Council to underwrite the project through a public works loan but this would be a last resort which they are keen to avoid!
The shortfall in funds will it is hoped be met by the fundraising, which is taking place over the next few months, and will overcome this, and will cover the internal fixtures and fittings. The East Leake Playing Fields Charity have launched the “Buy a Brick” scheme, which allows sponsors to contribute in a very special way, and really become part of this project.
The new single storey pavilion will provide modern facilities including changing rooms, showers, toilets, kitchen with bar area, and two club rooms both with disabled access which we hope will give opportunity to a wide variety of indoor uses. The playing fields currently consist of football pitches , a rugby field and a cricket pitch which are heavily used every week for either games or training, plus archery and dog training.
SOUP LUNCH. Three or four different flavours of soup “and lots of lots of puddings” will be on offer at a soup lunch in the church hall of St. Mary’s Parish Church in East Leake next Thursday (February 10).
The lunch will be from noon to 1.45pm. Everyone is welcome. Stay as long as you like. People taking part are being invited to eat as much as they like and donate as much or as little as they can afford.
Organisers would love to see the hall full of people with them having a great time, renewing old friendships and making new ones.
FRY-UP. Two retired members from St. Mary’s Parish Church in East Leake – Andy and Ron - are hosting a men’s fry up at Antlers restaurant at Manor Farm on Friday this week, February 4 at 9:30am. Any men who would like to join them is asked to sign up on a sheet in church or just call or text Andy on 07730 538504.
SURGERY SESSIONS. Following a break because of the pandemic situation, East Leake parish council are to bring back their monthly surgery sessions when two members attend the village hall to receive visits from residents who have points to raise on parish matters.
Coun. Lynn Forsyth proposed restarting the Saturday Surgeries on the first Saturday of the month for two hours from 10am-12pm. The motion was seconded by Coun. Liz Taylor and agreed unanimously.
BREAST SCREENING.
Confirmation has been given to the parish council that the Breast Screening Services offered by the NHS will have its Breast Screening van be on the Health Centre Car Park at East Leake until October.
TRADERS. East Leake traders and business owners are among those that Rushcliffe Borough Council are inviting to attend town centre business support groups across their area to refresh their connections with local partners and contacts.
The other traders included are those in West Bridgford, Ruddington, Keyworth, Bingham and Radcliffe on Trent, being invited to join the conversation with Ophelia Gamble, the authority’s Interim Highstreet Support Manager, and hear more about how the council can offer support with partners and digital grants. The message from the borough says: “Come and chat and find out more.”
The meeting at East Leake is to be held on Wednesday next week, February 9, at 6pm at The Nags Head public house in the village.
The council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Business and Growth Cllr Andy Edyvean – also chairman Willoughby on the Wolds parish council - said: “Ophelia has been out and about on the borough’s high streets since October, co-ordinating successful Christmas events, social media content creation and meeting and greeting as many retailers across Rushcliffe as possible.
“Now these meetings are a great chance to identify development and growth for your local high street and share your ambitions for your business so we can together map out a strategy for 2022/23 and start to define your high street’s qualities.”
Ophelia added: “Come and join the conversation with fellow businesses and chat over a virtual stroll through your local high street, looking at the visitor appeal, business offering and customer journey with you.
“We want to delve deep into what you as a high street business really want to achieve this year and in turn create a vital and viable experience with you and your fellow business owners.”
To find out more on the wider support available to Rushcliffe businesses or if you’re not able to attend an event near you email econdev@rushcliffe.gov.uk
CRIME UPDATE. Crime figures for East Leake in December show there were four incidents dealt with by the police.
On the third of the month, overnight, unknown suspects stole a car trailer from Woodgate Road and two days later an unknown male stole five bottles of spirits from the village Co-op store.
On December 11 during the afternoon an unknown suspect smashed a rear patio door on Manor Farm Meadow and stole cash and purse from inside the property.
A suspect forced entry to The Bulls Head on December 19 and stole items from inside the licensed premises.
A suspect has been arrested for this offence.
Local officer Pc Kelly Carlile can be contacted by email at Kelly.carlile@nottinghamshire. pnn.police.uk and can be followed on twitter @ LeakeKworthCops or on facebook at Rushcliffe South Police. Her phone number is 07725925330
Kelly also says if you wish to contact her you can ring 101 ext 3101530, or the control room where a message can be left. Her sergeant is Sgt 974 Jury based at Cotgrave police station (ext. 3100974).
DECORATIVE LIGHTS. A decision has been taken by the parish council at East Leake to purchase decorative lights in the coming financial year for the two broken sets in place for use on the large trees in the Village Memorial Gardens. The move follows a report to the council by an electrician that said one set was still working but the other two were beyond repair.
The clerk Sue Lewis said she had agreed to the suggestion from the election that two spotlights be put in the tree for use now and following a discussion, it was agreed that the lights be replaced this year, and a figure be added to the budget for this.
BEFRIENDING SCHEME. Residents in East Leake have been asked by their Village Health Group through its newsletter to support the Rushcliffe Befriending Scheme who are currently looking for volunteers.
Rushcliffe Community and Voluntary Service say they have noticed an increase in the numbers of people who need support from their befriending service.
“Although many older residents are included in this scheme, befrienders can be of any age.”
The befriending scheme covers the village such as East Leake, Rushcliffe as well as in Broxtowe and Gedling areas.
Mr Doug Lister, the Befriending Co-Ordinator, has outlined what any volunteers eeds to do to become a befriender, saying they would need to be able to offer at least one hour per week to talk to a “befriendee”.
This could eventually lead to “face to face” meetings and possibly walks to a local park or coffee shop.
If you are interested in becoming a befriender or a befriendee please contact Mr Lister – on 0115 969 9060 or support@rushcliffecvs.org.uk also at www.rushcliffecvs.org. uk and on Twitter and Facebook @rushcliffecvs.