Winchester Sport and Leisure Park has been recognised as one of the top leisure facilities in England after achieving the elite 'Outstanding' rating from Quest, the leading national quality scheme for the leisure industry.

The centre underwent a rigorous two-day evaluation covering everything from tackling inequalities to environmental management practices.

Winchester Sport and Leisure Park, managed by Everyone Active in partnership with Winchester City Council, is one of just three facilities in England to achieve this result.

Quest, Sport England’s continuous improvement tool for leisure facilities, 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.

Winchester Sport and Leisure Park underwent the Quest Plus assessment, a two-day evaluation involving a number of compulsory modules on day one, including Tackling Inequalities and Environmental Management, as well as a variety of topics to help the facility make progress in specific areas of its business on day two.

The leisure centre also went through a mystery visit. By achieving an overall rating of excellent in both Quest Plus and its Mystery Visit, Winchester Sport and Leisure Park has been awarded the accolade of Quest Outstanding.

Standout areas for the centre included team management, swimming lessons, exercise referral scheme, health and safety standards and accessibility.

Alison Lewis, Everyone Active’s area contract manager, said: “We are tremendously proud of this achievement which reflects our team's unwavering commitment to excellent service and positive community impact.

"Quest's Outstanding rating is the gold standard, attained by only the most exceptional leisure centres nationally. 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 and achieving an overall accolade of ‘outstanding’, Winchester Sport and Leisure Park 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.”

Winchester Sport and Leisure Park offers an exceptional array of amenities, including a 50-metre, 8-lane competition pool complemented by a 20x10 metre teaching pool. Additionally, it also offers a unique hydrotherapy pool specially designed for rehabilitative therapies.

The amenities extend well beyond aquatics with a large indoor climbing facility, an eight-court sports hall suitable for a variety of activities, and four glass-backed squash courts. The centre’s impressive 200-station fitness suite provides state-of-the-art strength and cardio equipment for all levels.

Members can also enjoy a full-service café and beauty treatment rooms on site.