Two sports centres that are operated and managed by Active Northumberland have passed Sport England’s toughest quality assessment Quest with flying colours. 
 

Ashington Leisure Centre and the new Berwick Sports & Leisure Centre were rated as ‘Very Good’ following the assessment - the best-known improvement programme within the leisure industry.  
 

The scheme is designed to measure how effective leisure and sports facilities and organisations are at providing customer service - delving into how well a facility is operating.  

It looks at the operation of the business (such as maintenance, cleaning and health and safety) the people (such as customer experience and the team dynamics) and the purpose (such as how the facility plans to improve, and how it engages with the community surrounding it). 

The assessment was made up of two parts. A mystery visit to each centre and a two-day assessment at each centre. 
 

Mark Warnes, chief executive of Active Northumberland said: 

“We have taken part in Quest because it is an ongoing improvement programme that benefits our customers, staff, and partners.  

“The team have worked extremely hard to gain this nationally recognised accreditation, which demonstrates how committed we all are in providing a quality and valued service for our customers. “  

“Out of the 59 sites that have undertaken the same assessment as we have, Ashington is sitting 4th nationally and Berwick 12th which is a fantastic achievement.” 
 

Northumberland County Councillor Jeff Watson, cabinet member for healthy lives said:  

“The rigorous assessments carried out through Quest challenge some of the best leisure centres in the UK and I am delighted the team at Active Northumberland have achieved a Very Good outcome. 
 

“This is testament to the fantastic level of quality facilities and service the team consistently strive to deliver.” 
 

Areas that were particularly commended during the assessments included the health suite at Berwick, which was said to be one of the nicest, if not the nicest the assessor had seen in a community leisure centre. The staff on duty were also said to be extremely helpful. 
 

The assessor noted that the Active Northumberland team appeared to place a high priority on providing consistent quality customer service. The overall condition of the facility was very good but the standards of cleanliness and hygiene throughout the facility during the unannounced visit were exemplary. 

The assessor also highlighted the mental health and wellbeing policy that was in place across the company with staff receiving regular updates and specific training to ensure they had an acceptable understanding of these critical issues. 

 

At Ashington Leisure Centre team members were said to be knowledgeable, very welcoming, friendly, and professional. 

There was a wide and varied range of activities for all abilities available across the facility programme with a provision that encouraged inclusivity and tackled inequalities. There was a real community feel to the programme. Again, as with Berwick, the level of cleanliness and hygiene throughout the facility was said to be exemplary.  

The centre was also praised for its inclusivity with good access, blue badge parking, automatic doors, lifts, low level desks, accessible equipment and changing facilities all noted.