• Sally was one of 16 candidates nominated for the impressive award, which is designed to celebrate the best sports coach in the Enfield borough
• She received the honour to mark her consistent hard work within the local community as a Tai Chi instructor, which includes her weekly classes at London Colney Adventure World

Quotations

Sally Golding commented:

It is absolutely amazing to win this award and I am thrilled that my hard work has made a difference to members of the local community. I have always loved Tai Chi and it’s great to be able to share my passion with others.

Alex Bedford, Contract Manager at London Colney Adventure World, commented:

All the staff and management here at London Colney Adventure World are thrilled that Sally has received the award, recognising her contribution to the local community and excellence in Tai Chi. We would like to offer congratulations from everyone at the centre.

• The class was held by personal trainer, Tom Doe, in the sports hall at the centre, and was attended by 30 pupils aged 6-7
• The class started with a discussion about why people exercise and the benefits of exercise and nutrition, and was quickly followed by the pupils taking part in a PT session
• The session included aerobic based exercise, anaerobic (including resistance exercise) based and a mixture of the two

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Tom commented:

I was very impressed with the interaction from the class, the pupils gave great answers and it was promising to see six year olds with such an awareness of the importance of exercise.

We wanted to get the pupils involved in exercise during the session, and we really wanted to teach them about how different areas of the body are affected by different forms of exercise. The children took part in a variety of exercises including running with small hurdles, tricep dips on a bench and a tug of war, and we think they really enjoyed the fun session.

• The athletes will be facing strong competition from athletics clubs from Basildon, Bedford and Woodford Green for a strong finish in the Division 2 South East Southern Athletics League
• They will compete in all track and field events across the board
• The team at Abbey View is also looking for people who are interested in joining the club, which runs sessions every Thursday evening and Sunday morning
• In addition, they are hoping to find a team of St Albans Games Makers, those who don’t fancy being the next Usain Bolt, but would like to support the club by helping at training and providing refreshments
• For more information on joining the club or becoming a Games Maker please contact Tim Higman on 01727 836767
• Abbey View Golf and Track Centre is operated by St Albans City and District Council in partnership with Leisure Connection
• For further information about the centre visit www.leisureinstalbans.co.uk

Quotations

William Perry, Operations Manager at Abbey View Golf and Track Centre, commented:

It is an exciting time for British Athletics after such a successful home Olympics, the interest in the sport is just growing and the staff are proud to be supporting our home team and future stars of the track and field in their fight for glory.

• There will be an exciting array of local talent on show, as well as a raffle and the chance to bid for a signed England shirt in an exciting auction
• All money raised will be donated to the ‘Especially for You’ fund, created in honour of Jodie Webb

Quotation:

Chris Williams, Business Manager of Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre, commented:

We are really proud to have supported the team organising the ‘Bigger than the Olympics’ event by offering the performers the space to rehearse. They’re raising money for such a great cause, and we’re looking forward to seeing the local community come together and raise lots of money for this well deserving charity.

• Quest is a tool for continuous improvement, designed primarily for the management of leisure facilities and leisure development
• It defines industry standards and good practice and encourages ongoing development and delivery within a customer focused management framework
• The team delivers projects, programmes and initiatives to help provide opportunities for people to take part in sport, health and leisure activities
• The team was established in 1991 and now delivers over 30 projects throughout the District each year, including programmes such as Active St Albans, Special Olympics St Albans and the St Albans Exercise Referral Scheme, as well as events such as the St Albans Half Marathon, Giant Monopoly and District Sports Awards

Quotations

Matt Charles, Sport & Health Development Manager, said

This is a fantastic achievement for the team and really shows how dedicated we are to the wide variety of projects and work we delivers. Our programmes aim to increase activity levels amongst the local community and we are so proud to have achieved an ‘Excellent’ in our audit and will strive to continue to provide the best service to St Albans.

Alex Bedford, Contract Manager for Leisure Connection in St Albans, added:

The Sport & Health Development team do a tremendous job getting people active and taking part in sports, and to achieve this level of Quest Assessment is a great achievement for the team.

• Emily Arbuthnott reached the finals of both 14&U and 16&U age groups at the Sutton Easter tournament
• After a weather-disrupted week, Emily had to battle her way through 9 singles matches in just 4 days
• On finals day itself, she defeated the #1 seed Molly Reed from Yorkshire 6-1 6-3 in the 16&U final
• These results were enough to lift her into the number one slot in the 14&U national rankings, and up to number two in the 16&U rankings, her highest ever positions

Quotations

Liz Jones, Tennis Director at Batchwood Tennis Centre, who directs Emily’s tennis programme, commented:

A number one ranking comes from achieving consistently excellent results over a 12 month period: you have to train hard, prepare thoroughly and then perform day-in day-out at tournaments all year round.  The coaching team here at Batchwood is genuinely thrilled to have the top ranked player in her age group training here – she is a great role model to all of our younger players and we are looking forward to helping her take the next step up into international tournaments over the coming year.

As a member of the AEGON FutureStars programme run by the LTA, Emily has also recently been invited on a national training camp and a trip abroad with other top British players – these opportunities will really help her understand where she needs to develop her game.

• The camp ran for two-weeks over the Easter holiday and was well attended by local children keen to take part in the action-packed days, which saw the children split into age groups, from the Strawberry Sprinters, aged 5-7 years old, to the Apple Athletes aged 8 – 12 years old
• Multi-sport sessions, swimming, and arts and crafts activities were also on offer to entertain the kids and help them learn about the different ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle

Quotations

James Kinsella, Business Manager at Harpenden Sports Centre said:

All the children that attended loved the camp and we had some really positive feedback from the kids and parents alike. We’re hoping to host more camps in the future, as we really believe they are helping kids learn more about living a healthy lifestyle.

• Westminster Lodge hosted the swimathon for the fourth consecutive year, welcoming 24 swimmers aged between 8 and 15 years-old from St Cuthburt Mayne, Kings Langley Primary and Kings Langley Senior schools
• The children came together as a team to successfully make a new distance record of 30.4 miles – beating last year’s distance of 23.1 miles
• Having also raised £110 from a cake sale, the schools are now on track to reach their target of £1,000 for charity

Quotations

Chris Williams, Business Manager at Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre, said:

We are proud to have held the swimathon at Westminster Lodge for another year. The swimathon was a great event – with all the children working hard to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care it really created a fantastic atmosphere.

• Both sites are owned by St Albans City and District Council and operated in partnership with Leisure Connection
• Of the 850 sites included in the Quest audit, only nine achieved award winning status
• Two of these were Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre and Harpenden Leisure Centre
• The sites demonstrated continuous improvement over a number of years, as well as fully adhering to annual assessments
• Quest is a tool for continuous improvement, designed primarily for the management of leisure facilities and leisure development
• It defines industry standards and good practice and encourages ongoing development and delivery within a customer focused management framework

Quotations

Scott Machen, Contract Manager for both sites, commented:

We were delighted when we picked up two awards at this year’s Quest Conference. The teams at both sites have demonstrated a consistent daily focus on quality delivery and improvement, and they have truly excelled themselves this year.

For St Albans to win two out of nine awards is fantastic, and that these nine were picked out of 850 sites is a true testament to the hard work of the staff, and I would like to congratulate and thank them all.

• Like many other young people Daniel had no idea what employment prospects he had
• When searching online for opportunities he came across a Government funded fitness apprenticeship programme
• After an interview and induction day, Daniel started a three-week, classroom-based programme provided by Lifetime
• Today, thanks to the level 2 gym qualification, Daniel is working full-time at Harpenden Sports Centre as a gym instructor having shown great efforts whilst on placement

Quotations

Daniel said:

I’m just astounded at how one year has changed my life so completely and utterly. I had absolutely nothing at all to lose one year ago and here I am now with a fantastic career ahead of me. Learning on the job alongside other instructors and trainers was perfect. To me, apprenticeships are a no-brainer. You earn while you learn. You receive training and you can get the career of your dreams at the end.

James Kinsella, Business Manager at Harpenden Sports Centre, commented:

We are so pleased to have offered Joe a full-time position here at Harpenden, he’s a credit to our team.  Through our partnership with Lifetime, we are very proud to be able to offer young people the opportunity to work in our centre, and we’re proud to be in a position to give something back to our local community. Daniel has impressed us so much that he is now on his way to completing the Level 3 Personal Training qualification through Lifetime.