Church Eaton Cricket Club, together with the Glebelands Sports Association and Church Eaton Tennis Club, is delighted to announce that a new agreement has been reached to extend the lease on The Glebelands Sports Field until **2047**.

This means that organised cricket, tennis and community sport at The Glebelands has been secured for at least the next **21 years**, providing long-term stability and certainty for future generations.

For many months there has been uncertainty surrounding the future of the site due to the ongoing Village Green application. Throughout that period, the Cricket Club's priority has remained unchanged: protecting the future of grassroots sport in Church Eaton and ensuring that local children, families and residents continue to have access to organised sport and community facilities.

Today's announcement is therefore a hugely significant milestone.

The extended lease provides security not only for the Cricket Club and Tennis Club, but for the wider village. It gives both clubs the confidence to continue investing in facilities, applying for grants, improving infrastructure and developing opportunities for local people for many years to come.

Church Eaton Cricket Club has grown enormously in recent years. We now have over 190 members, with participants ranging from children as young as two years old through our Mini Knights programme, right through to senior players still enjoying the game in their seventies. Every week hundreds of volunteer hours are invested into coaching, maintaining the ground, fundraising, administration and supporting local sport.

The club would like to place on record its sincere thanks to our landlord and their professional agents for their support and commitment to preserving The Glebelands as a sporting facility. Their willingness to work positively with the Glebelands Sports Association, Cricket Club and Tennis Club has helped secure the future of organised sport within our community.

We would also like to thank everyone involved from the Glebelands Sports Association, Church Eaton Cricket Club and Church Eaton Tennis Club volunteers who continue to work tirelessly behind the scenes.

While recent discussions regarding the future of the site have understandably generated concern amongst some residents, it is important to remember that The Glebelands exists today because of the dedication of generations of volunteers who transformed a field into the thriving sports facility we enjoy today. For over 40 years, volunteers have maintained, improved and funded the site for the benefit of the whole community.

We appreciate that some people have concerns about future development within the village and the protection of open spaces. However, we firmly believe that the best way to protect and strengthen The Glebelands is through active use, community participation and continued investment in sport.

The message today is simple:

**Church Eaton Cricket Club is not going anywhere.**

We are growing.

We are investing.

We are planning for the future.

And we remain committed to serving the entire community.

If you have never been involved before, now is the perfect time to join us. Whether you want to play cricket, volunteer, coach, help maintain the ground, support events, join the tennis club or simply become part of the community, we would love to welcome you.

The future of The Glebelands is bright, and together we can continue building something that benefits the whole village for generations to come.

**The Glebelands. The Home of Cricket and Community Sport in Church Eaton. Secured until 2047.**