Published: Monday 14th September 2015 | 3.50pm
A LEISURE centre and sports development team in Cannock has achieved an ‘excellent’ rating in a tough combined assessment by Sport England’s leading national quality scheme, Quest.
Quest is the best-known improvement programme within the sport and leisure industry and its rigorous assessments challenge even the very best leisure centres and sports development teams in the UK.
WLCT manages leisure services on behalf of Cannock Chase Council. In order to achieve Quest Combo – a double assessment that takes into account both the facilities offered by a provider and its sports development team – WLCT’s Community Wellbeing Team, Sport and Chase Leisure Centre in Cannock went through a three-day assessment plus a mystery visit.
The assessment comprised 21 modules. Of these, WLCT was rated excellent in 15 and good in six. Chase Leisure Centre achieved excellent in five core modules, including Community Outcomes and Team and Skill Development, while the Community Wellbeing Team, Sport achieved excellent in six core modules, including Financial and Budget Management and Partnership Working. Joint modules – covering both centre and team – in which the trust achieved an excellent rating include Junior Activities and Sales and Retention.
Pete Burt, managing director of WLCT, said: “We are delighted to have achieved Quest Combo, which recognises best practice in sports development and facility management. It is particularly pleasing that we achieved the accreditation at ‘excellent’ level. This is testament to the hard work that these dedicated teams put in to providing great activities to encourage people in the district to get active and healthy.”
Councillor Christine Mitchell, portfolio leader for culture and sport at Cannock Chase Council, said: “I am delighted that we have achieved Quest Combo in our district. The award recognises the quality services offered by our leisure centres and our sports development staff, and I thank the commitment of our teams in helping us achieve this.”
Quest’s operations director, Caroline Constantine, said: “By meeting Quest Combo’s extremely high standards, WLCT has shown its commitment to providing quality facilities and service to its customers. In these tough economic times it is more important than ever that local leisure providers can demonstrate their value, and Quest Combo helps them do just that.”