On Saturday 19th November, the New Sports Pavilion on Costock Road, East Leake was officially opened by the Mayor of Rushcliffe and former Nottingham Forest captain, John McGovern.
It has taken a few years to come to fruition with a lot of blood sweat and tears, but it got there eventually thanks to all involved – it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of various bodies.
Funding for this project has been achieved by way of a grant from the Premier League, The Football Association, and Government via the Football Foundation. Some funding was also made available through Section 106 via the Parish Council, which has been allocated to recreation by developers of the housing in the village and CIL Strategic Fund from Rushcliffe Borough Council. There was a small shortfall in funds, which has been covered by various fundraising activities in the village and has gone towards finishing the internal fixtures and fittings. Thank you to everybody who contributed, including: the Townlands Trust, Organisers of the Open Gardens, Village Show, Beer Festival and Bubbles Bingo and The Bantams who also donated a sum towards these fixings. 
To make their contribution, the East Leake Playing Fields Charity launched a “Buy a Brick’ scheme, which allowed sponsors to contribute in a very special way, and really become part of this project. Each brick from this scheme carries the name of the family or person who bought it – a lasting memory contained within the fabric of the building. In all, the Charity raised over £11,000 – a fantastic effort!
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 will give opportunity to a wide variety of indoor uses.
The function rooms are already being booked up with a variety of exercise classes, children’s parties, evening private functions and even a choir. If you are interested in booking a room during the daytime or evening, then please contact the Facilities Manager on [email protected]
The playing fields consist of football pitches, a rugby field and a cricket pitch, which are heavily used every week for either games or training, plus use by an archery club and dog training class.
All involved in these local sports will be able to benefit from the excellent new facilities.
Full details of the project can be found on the pavilion’s dedicated website: https://eastleakepavilion.org.uk/