Leisure centre rated ‘excellent’

Aston-cum-Aughton Leisure Centre, managed by Places for People Leisure in Partnership with Rotherham Council, has been recognised for its excellent services following a thorough assessment by Sport England’s leading national quality scheme, Quest.

Quest is the best-known improvement programme within the sports and leisure industry and its rigorous assessments challenge even the very best leisure centres in the UK. The ‘Excellent’ rating is the highest that Quest awards, and the centre is marked on a number of criteria during a mystery visit and a two day assessment.

During the assessment process Quest highlighted that they were particularly impressed with the positive and welcoming feel of the centre which was due to the engaging staff as well as the attention to detail throughout the centre and general presentation.

Richard Cowley, Places for People area manager for Rotherham, said: “We are very proud of Aston-cum-Aughton Leisure Centre for being recognised for its excellent service and facilities and I want to take this opportunity thank our superb team again for their on-going hard work.

“This is a fantastic achievement and a real team effort. Quest is much more than a tick-box exercise; it is an ongoing programme to improve our facilities and activity programmes for both staff and customers, and a great way to demonstrate our achievements.”

Rotherham Council’s advisory Cabinet member for adult social care and health Cllr David Roche said: “This is great news for Aston-cum-Aughton Leisure Centre and for People for Places. We are very proud of our leisure facilities in Rotherham and this is a popular family leisure facility which offers a gym, pools, classes, swimming lessons, sports facilities and much more.

“Maintaining such facilities requires commitment and passion and it is clear that the facilities are being looked after to high standard by the hard working team, with a varied programme of activities. Well done all!”

Quest’s operations director, Caroline Constantine, said: “Quest Plus is a step up from the entry level Quest and as such it is a more demanding process. By meeting Quest’s high standards for excellent centres, Aston-cum-Aughton Leisure Centre 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 facilities can demonstrate their value, and Quest helps them do just that.”

Aston-cum-Aughton Leisure Centre is managed by Places for People Leisure, in partnership with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. For further information on the centres, visit www.placesforpeopleleisure.org.