OAKLANDS GAINS PRESTIGIOUS QUALITY MARK AWARD

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 30th Jun 2009

Staff at Oaklands Sport Centre are celebrating after the centre was rated as one of the best in the country.

The centre was awarded the 'Qwest' mark, the UK's quality scheme for sport and leisure following a rigorous two day inspection.

The inspection assessed areas including building maintenance, cleaning, staff recruitment and training, community links, sports development, marketing, market research, customer service and information technology.

Oaklands is the first leisure facility in York to receive the award and received a commendation from the assessor.

Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Leisure, Culture and Social Inclusion, Councillor Nigel Ayre congratulated the Oaklands staff on their achievement. He said, "This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the excellent staff at Oaklands. They have put in a great deal of effort to make Oaklands such a fantastic centre."

"The quality of the centre is evidenced by the fact that patronage at Oaklands has risen by 260% over the past four years."

"Oaklands is a great facility with a bright future ahead of it. The new extension will be open later this year and will add a six lane swimming pool, extended gym and hydrotherapy pool to the facilities on offer."

"We should also be proud that Oaklands Sports Centre was the first such facility in the country to receive the Inclusive Fitness Mark, recognising the work that has been done to meet the needs of disabled users."