Preston City Council's Sports Development Team has scored the highest rating in the country in a UK wide Quality Assurance Assessment (QUEST) which monitors areas such as community engagement, customer relations and partnership working.
Our vision is that Preston residents will be the best informedand most engagedin physical activity and sport opportunities in the Northwest and as a result will progressively become the most physically active community in the region.
The city of Preston will champion the benefits of an active lifestyle by using physical activity and sport as a tool to address social agendas such as education, health, regeneration, and crime reduction. We will provide a first class infrastructure fit for the 21st century, which will inspire and motivate more people to become active, stay active and fulfil their potential regardless of ability.
The team were also heavily involved in Preston's successful bid to become the European City of Sport in 2012 and will be responsible for organising and coordinating events as part of the programme.
Stephen Daley, Sport Development manager: "We have been involved in the Quest process since 2000 and enjoyed the challenges that the Quest assessment has given us over this time. Preston City Council strives for excellence and ensures the service we provide is value for money for all Prestonians and our partners.
"The quest assessment has enabled us to develop and implement policies and procedures which ensure that we provide an excellent service.
"Having achieved a score of 98% this is a proud day for Preston Sports development and Preston city, we are a small district council but are very ambitious and even though we are defined as an excellent service we will continue to look for improvements and developments"
Councillor Tom Burns, cabinet member for leisure, said: "This is a fantastic achievement and reflects the hard work and dedication that the team has put in.
"When we first started participating in the scheme in 2000, we scored a rating of 75%. In our recent assessment we scored a fantastic 98% which is the highest rating ever achieved by any council.
"Despite our relative size, to outperform every other council in the country, many of whom have much larger budgets, resources and more staff, is a testament to the hard work of the team."