Council and Halo partnership wins top UK award

Services which encourage people to live healthier and more active lives in Bridgend County Borough have been officially recognised as being the best in the UK.

UK leisure industry quality assessor Quest has presented Bridgend County Borough Council and Halo Leisure with first place in its ‘Active Communities’ award category for their work alongside local schools, clubs and community organisations.

The council and Halo also received an ‘excellent’ rating in recognition of the high-quality overall service offered by their successful partnership - one of seven ratings used by Quest when measuring the effectiveness of leisure facilities and sports management teams.

The people of Bridgend County Borough have really embraced the national drive to lead healthier, more active lifestyles, and visits to our leisure centres and swimming pools have increased significantly since the council and Halo first went into partnership together seven years ago. To be officially recognised as being the best in the UK is a fantastic achievement. We are particularly pleased that this award recognises our partnership way of working and the work undertaken by local schools, clubs and community organisations.

Assessors from Quest looked at a range of factors which included how disabled people are supported, how we encourage inactive people to become active, our engagement with children and young people, our approach to financial management and business development, the exercise referral programme, older people engagement rates and more.

With Quest accreditation in place at each of our leisure centres and swimming pools, the award reflects initiatives such as our Family Active Zones or OlympAge sessions which look towards wider participation than just helping regular gym goers to get fitter. This is a brilliant achievement which really demonstrates the quality of the service, and I would like to thank and congratulate everyone who has helped make it such a success.

Councillor Dhanisha Patel, Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Future Generations

Simon Gwynne, Halo’s Healthy Living Partnership Manager, said: “To be awarded the highest accreditation possible from Quest in the Active Communities category is something we are all so proud of.

“For our partnership to be the highest performing Active Communities team across the whole of the UK has totally blown us away, and reassures us that we really are getting more local people more active, more often.”