The new Elstead Pavilion at the Thursley Road Recreation Ground has now been completed and by the time you read this will already be in use.

The new building has taken less than 8 months to construct, at an estimated cost of around £240,000. This is more than our original budget of £220,000, but this figure was designed to cover the ground floor only. As things have turned out, the whole building is now completed, with the exception of the lift, which we plan to install as soon as funds permit.

We have been able to make such excellent progress only as a result of the support we have received from the village, both in the form of cash donations and voluntary labour. Our professional advisers tell us that to have built the pavilion using a prime contractor would have cost us between £450-500,000, so we have cut the cost by about half by doing the job ourselves. I should add that we have received no support whatever from the Sports Lottery Fund, nor from any other national funding organisation (in spite of all our efforts to solicit their support). All our funding has been provided locally, either from within the village or from Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council.

We have had to borrow rather more than we had originally planned, so we still need to raise more funds to repay these loans. Anyone who would like to contribute, please give me a call on 01252 703970.

The Trust plans to arrange a formal opening of the Pavilion later in the Spring, but in the meantime it will be holding an open day on Saturday 8^th April, from 12 noon onwards, so that Elstead residents, particularly those who have supported the project so strongly, will be able to inspect the new building. The Trust hopes that all who can will come along and see what a magnificent new asset the village now has.

Pat Murphy
Secretary,
Elstead Recreational Trust