Between 2019 and 2021 H&L supported South Somerset District Council’s Leisure and Recreation Manager, Katy Menday in securing funding for a new Café and Community Space at Yeovil Recreation Centre.

Yeovil Recreation Centre offers high quality outdoor sport and leisure facilities and activities across  a range of grass pitches, golf courses, AGP, athletics arena, tennis courts, play area and MUGA. The site has a small clubhouse at the arena and large pavilion adjacent. The pavilion received Football Foundation funding in 2003 to upgrade the changing rooms, gradually since that time the use of the changing rooms has decreased. The 2018 Leisure and Recreation Business plan identified the opportunity to make better use of the underused pavilion space to create a new gateway to the site, though provision of a community space and café. SSDC provided two thirds of the funding to achieve this.

Martin Cooke worked with Katy to secure £80,000 in grant funding with £40,000 coming from Sport England and £40,000 from Viridor Credits. This funding brought the project to full budget and enabled it to proceed.

Work was delayed due to Covid but commenced in February 2021 with facilities opening from July 2021.