Meadowside Leisure Centre Achieves Quest Status
At 4.15pm on Tues 11th September James Wade, the Meadowside Leisure Centre’s Manager, received the news he had been waiting for. After two days of external assessments, the centre had been awarded Quest Status.
Quest is a nationally recognised award very similar to the hotel star ratings grading system, but for Leisure Centres. It covers all aspects of the day to day operations of the centre from customer satisfaction to health & safety, through to the cleanliness of the centre. In addition to the two day assessment, a ‘mystery visitor’ secretly assessed the centre by pretending to be a customer/member of the centre.
James Wade said:” This is a great achievement for all of the staff, particularly the Duty Managers who have worked really hard to get this recognised award. The good thing about Quest is that it is an ongoing assessment so there will be no slacking off; in two years we need to better this result. The centre has always had a friendly and welcoming feel thanks to the staff, but to succeed on an operations and programming basis was also very important to us.”
The small but busy Leisure Centre in Whiteley has added Tennis courts, Basketball and Netball to its facilities since it opened in October 2000.
Cllr Patricia Stallard, portfolio holder for Culture, Heritage and Sport said: “It is wonderful that the Meadowside Leisure centre has gained the recognition it truly deserves. The awarding of Quest status shows just how much work has gone into developing the centre since it opened. With its mix of sport and community activities, it is a great asset to Whiteley and the surrounding area.”
Winchester City Council has two Leisure Centres, the second being River Park Leisure Centre in Winchester which is managed by DC Leisure. River Park has also been successful with Quest, scoring 73% in its second assessment.