Quest was first established more than 20 years ago to measure how well a facility is operating and how effective organisations are across a range of topics.
The renowned award has evolved over the years to keep pace with the ever-changing sport and leisure industry, and is still the sector’s best-known improvement programme, with its rigorous assessments challenging even the very best leisure centres in the UK.
Lee Valley VeloPark, managed by GLL, a charitable social enterprise and worker-owned cooperative, operating under the community-brand, Better, underwent the Quest Plus assessment.
The two-day evaluation included modules such as Tackling Inequalities, Environmental Management, Operational Management and Team Management, as well as Compliance, Health and Safety, Marketing, Research and Communication and Event Management, to help the facility make progress in specific areas of its business.
In terms of Tackling Inequalities, the assessment looked at initiatives such as the Women’s Only Pathway, the partnership with Bikeworks, and engagement with clubs and National Governing Bodies (NGBs). The VeloPark also went through a mystery visit.
Keith Griffiths, General Manager at Lee Valley VeloPark, said: “We’re very proud to have received an ‘excellent’ rating from Quest. 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 facility for both staff and customers, and a great way to demonstrate our achievements.”
Quest’s managing director, Caroline Constantine, said: “Quest Plus is such a demanding process. By meeting Quest’s high standards for ‘excellent’ centres, Lee Valley VeloPark 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 the Quest process helps them do just that; enabling facilities and their teams to have the quality of their work both recognised and nationally accredited, as well as showing how they measure up against national standards.”