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Wenlock and Mandeville were created from the last drops of steel left over from the construction of the final support girder for the Olympic Stadium. An animated film, based on a story by children’s author Michael Morpurgo, shows how the figures were brought to life and are able to reflect and adapt to their surroundings, changing their appearance depending on the situation. Wenlock and Mandeville will now go on separate journeys, often crossing paths and meeting people all over the UK inspiring them to choose sport as they head towards the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

The mascots’ names reflect the UK’s rich Olympic and Paralympic histories. Wenlock’s name is inspired by the Shropshire village of Much Wenlock where the ‘Wenlock Games’ was one of the inspirations that led the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, to create the Olympic Games. Mandeville’s name is inspired by Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire. In the 1940s, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann came to Stoke Mandeville Hospital to set up a new spinal unit to help former soldiers suffering from spinal cord injuries. Looking for ways to inspire those in his care, he encouraged them to take up sport, leading to the formation of the Stoke Mandeville Games, widely recognised as a forerunner of the modern Paralympic movement.

LOCOG Chairman Sebastian Coe commented: “We’ve created our mascots for children. They will connect young people with sport and tell the story of our proud Olympic and Paralympic history. By linking young people to the values of sport, Wenlock and Mandeville will help inspire kids to strive to be the best they can be.”

A UK wide schools competition has been launched to determine where Wenlock and Mandeville’s journeys take them next. Schools which are part of the London 2012 ‘Get Set’ education programme can invite Wenlock and Mandeville to visit their school and community.

Wenlock and Mandeville have a number of unique design features including yellow lights on their heads, inspired by London’s iconic black taxis; Wenlock wears friendship bands in the colours of the Olympic rings and Mandeville wears a timing device to track its personal best. The mascots’ single eye is a camera, which will capture the people they meet, the places they go and the sports they try on their journey to 2012.

The mascots will go on to become a key part of London 2012’s ‘Get Set’ education programme, with mascot themed resources available for registered schools developed over the coming months. Pupils will be able to follow Wenlock and Mandeville’s progress as they make their way in the world, learning about the Olympic and Paralympic values.

Later this year an online tool will enable people to create their own version of Wenlock and Mandeville, giving the public an unprecedented opportunity to engage with the Olympic and Paralympic mascots. Over the next two and a half years, further versions inspired and created by sportspeople, celebrities and the British public will be regularly featured on the London 2012 website and special edition collectables and toys will be made available for sale.

Both Wenlock and Mandeville constantly try to achieve their personal best and encourage others to follow them. The public will be able to choose which sports Wenlock and Mandeville experience first on the mascot website.

Reflecting London 2012’s vision to appeal to young people, both Wenlock and Mandeville will naturally have significant presence online, with their own website at www.london2012.com/mascots which is linked to their individual Twitter and Facebook sites. These sites will give the public a chance to follow the mascots’ journey and interact with them.

To celebrate the launch of the mascots, a limited edition run of t-shirts and pin badges has been made available for sale from today on the London 2012 online shop. With the main range of product going on sale this summer, this preview range is set to become a collector’s item in years to come.

LOCOG has also been working with the deaf people in London to develop new sign names for Wenlock and Mandeville which can easily be adopted by British and international sign language users.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "It's hard to imagine a mascot more in tune with the times… Wenlock and Mandeville will prove a winning formula – a solid coalition that will capture our imagination and help build a lasting legacy for our fabulous Games."

Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, said:

“The launch of the mascots is an exciting milestone in the build-up to London 2012 and will help to bring the personality of the Games to life particularly for young people. With the backing of children who helped to choose the mascots, they will play an important role in inspiring young people to get involved in sport.”

IOC Co-ordination Commission Chairman Dennis Oswald commented: “Since 1972 when Waldi became the first official mascot of the Olympic Games, mascots have played an integral part in the story of their edition of the Games and Wenlock is no exception. Linking a British event that was one of the inspirations for the modern OIympic Games to the 30th edition of the Games, Wenlock will undoubtedly help to spread the message of Olympism across Great Britain and the world, while entertaining young and old alike.”

IPC President Sir Philip Craven said: “The mascot for the London 2012 Paralympic Games is marvellous. I congratulate the London 2012 Organising Committee for the excellent choice of this unique mascot. During its journey in the upcoming two years, Mandeville will report about the Paralympic Movement and inspire people to learn about the Paralympic values and achievements of Paralympic athletes. I am sure that it will be loved by children all over the world."

Wenlock and Mandeville were designed by London creative agency Iris, following an intensive selection process that included UK wide focus groups of young people, families and industry experts.

Leisure Connection continues to invest in local clubs and centres and recently re-launched three centres in time for the New Year sales rush.

More than half a million pounds has been invested into the three facilities as part of Leisure Connection’s ongoing commitment to deliver world class facilities for the community.

Kevin Yates, Head of Commercial Development for Harpers Fitness – Leisure Connection’s fitness brand – comments: “We are continuing to invest in and improve all our clubs and leisure centres in 2010. The clubs look great – when you walk in you really get the wow factor, which is what we want across our whole estate.”

In the past couple of months Leisure Connection has invested upward of £50,000 into the gym at the national centre for wheelchair sport – Stoke Mandeville Stadium. The centre has been transformed with a full refresh of the gym including floors, personal training areas and the spin room as well as the audio and entertainment system.

While in Sunbury, BP’s corporate gym, Meadhurst, has had over £500,000 invested in the facility delivering a quality club for staff and members. Harpers Fitness at Nunnery Wood has also benefitted from a facelift and members and customers are enjoying their new look gym.

Kevin continues: “It’s all about delivering a fitness environment that rivals any operator. We are committed to customers and members and the investment will continue in 2010.”

Despite the snowy conditions and icy roads gym goers up and down the country have been finding it hard to get to the gyms and stick to those all important New Year’s resolutions this January.

Teams at Harpers Fitness, Leisure Connection’s fitness brand, didn’t let the snow and icy conditions stop them and their members from enjoying a work out. The health and fitness team designed a special programme for keeping fit in the snow and uploaded it to its ever popular website so that members and customers alike could download it and keep on track with their fitness programme – even if they couldn’t get to the gym.

Kevin Yates, Commercial Manager for Harpers Fitness said: “We all enjoy the snow but we were finding that members and customers were getting frustrated with the fact it was stopping them getting in for their work outs. Therefore, we designed a really simple programme that made the most of the snow and included activities that could be enjoyed by the whole family. For example, the exercises included making snowmen, having a snow ball fight and sledging. We’ve even had centres doing classes in the snow… the programme has been a tremendous success.”

Leisure Connection and its clients are celebrating a hat trick by achieving the Hospitality Assured standard at the National Sports Centres it manages on behalf of Sport England and at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, which it manages on behalf of the British Wheelchair Sport – WheelPower. This success has been achieved through a partnership approach and a lot of hard work and dedication by both the client teams and that of the facility management team

Hospitality Assured is the definitive standard for service and business excellence in hospitality, championed by the Institute of Hospitality and the only standard that focuses exclusively on the customer experience.
Lilleshall National Sports Centre, in Shropshire achieved an overall score of 72.7% which is an outstanding result for the first time and is one of the highest scores achieved by similar organisations, with the average score being 65%. This highlights the hard work that has been put in by Leisure Connection and Sport England at this centre.

Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre achieved an overall and first time score of 70.2% and Stoke Mandeville Stadium retained the Hospitality Assured Accreditation with an improved 68.6% score.

The Hospitality Assured criteria measures the different areas of business paying particular attention to methods of obtaining customer feedback, the response and review to this feedback, and the operational procedures in place to ensure a persons visit or stay over is fully satisfactory.

The assessments are completed over a 2 day period by a fully trained assessor who provides a full review against the criteria.

Blair MacGillivray, Leisure Connection’s Regional Manager for the National Sports Centres said: “We are absolutely delighted to achieve Hospitality Assured accreditation. This prestigious award demonstrates our continued commitment to improvement and to provide the highest quality sports, facilities and services. Our aim at the National Sports Centres is to provide a world leading environment in which to train and compete in sport. Given the challenging nature of the Hospitality Assured standard, this says much about the culture of customer service which is embedded throughout the whole team.”

“The most rewarding part, as manager, is having the commitment of the staff. Without their support we would not have achieved this level. It is a reflection on the enthusiasm, commitment, extraordinary hard work and professionalism of the staff that they have achieved such a wonderful rating. More importantly, it assures our customers that we provide services and facilities that are nationally accredited and at a very high level. I would like to thank all the staff at the centre who continue to do such an outstanding job each day”

“Hospitality assured is all about quality and striving to be the most excellent and this latest success demonstrates that Leisure Connection in partnership with Sport England and WheelPower is always working towards further improving the service we offer, always aiming to exceed customer expectations and continuing to be the best!.”

Philippe Rossiter FIH, Chief Executive of Institute of Hospitality said: "There is little doubting the exceptional feat of both Bisham Abbey and Lilleshall in achieving such high scores in their first Hospitality Assured assessment. Taking the lead from their colleagues at Stoke Mandeville, the teams in both centres have worked very hard to secure this excellent recognition of their commitment to high standards of customer service. This approach is exactly in line with the ethos of all these establishments managed by Leisure Connection, where outstanding sporting performance is being nurtured and developed. The Hospitality Assured standard provides a rigorous evaluation of an organisation's approach to reaching business excellence, and the Leisure Connection teams which have so successfully applied its principles can be justifiably proud of the results."

All national sports centres, which are managed by Leisure Connection are residential.

The 4th December marked 1,000 days to go before the London 2012 Paralympics. WheelPower, the owners of Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the birthplace of the Paralympics and Leisure Connection, the operator both celebrated the anniversary.

Through Stoke Mandeville Stadium, WheelPower and Leisure Connection are committed to improving the opportunities for disabled people to transform their lives through wheelchair sport.

To celebrate this WheelPower and Leisure Connection commit to:

• increase participation
• provide world leading facilities to support wheelchair and Paralympic sport
• provide quality facilities for Training Camps and events in the lead up to 2012
• develop educational opportunities for disability sport and people with disabilities through Stoke Mandeville Institute of Sport and Education
• embrace the Cultural Olympiad as the birthplace of the Paralympic Games
• encourage volunteering in wheelchair and disability sport.

Martin McElhatton, WheelPower's Chief Executive said "WheelPower joins the celebration of 1000 days to go to the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The Games provide a wonderful opportunity to increase awareness and opportunities in sport for disabled people and change perceptions about the abilities of people with disabilities. WheelPower aims to build on the heritage of the Paralympic Games, born at Stoke Mandeville, to build a wonderful legacy for young and newly disabled people and transform their lives through sport."


The London 2012 Paralympics will run from 29 August- 5 September and features 20 sports in the programme, breaking down into disciplines and events.

Harpers Fitness has successfully hosted its first ever member and customer awards, which recognised and celebrated the success stories and achievements of you – our valued members and customers.

The 2009 awards featured five categories – Health, Shape, Fitness, Family and Community Spirit and finalists were chosen out of the hundreds and hundreds of entrants. The winners were announced in October at a glitzy black tie ball at the prestigious Bisham Abbey.


As well as the individual category winners there was one overall Harpers Hero who won £3,000 and a lifelong Harpers Fitness membership – this was Ann Smith from Harpers Fitness in Spalding.

Victoria Branch, Marketing Manager for Harpers Fitness said: “We are very proud of our members and users for the hard work they put in to leading a more active and healthy lifestyle and we thought it was about time their efforts were recognised and celebrated. The event was a huge success and a true celebration of the achievement of our customers and members. We are already planning the 2010 event, which promises to be even bigger and better so watch this space for more information.”



Richard Callender from ITV’s Britain’s Biggest Loser gave an inspiring speech about how he overcame personal issues but stayed motivated and committed.


Shape - This award recognises someone who has worked hard to lose weight. We know losing weight isn’t easy – it requires dedication and commitment but it’s well worth it when you achieve your target.

Winner – Katie Laverick from Peterlee Leisure Centre in Peterlee

Runners up – Alex Jackson from Riverside Leisure Centre, Morpetand Wendy Dabinett from Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre


Health - This award recognises someone who has adopted physical activity to help with a health issue. Exercise isn’t just beneficial for weight management – it can assist and aid other conditions and problems.

Winner – Ann Smith from Castle Sports Centre in Spalding

Runners up – Will Vye from Lord Butler Fitness & Leisure Centre and Tanya Brealey from Loddon Valley Leisure

Fitness - This award recognises someone who has improved their levels of fitness or pushed their levels of fitness to the max in a bid to achieve something remarkable.

Winner – Nicholas Sharp from Mountfitchet Romeera Leisure Centre
Runners up – Soraya Wasinus from fitness Riverside in Norwich and Tom Ward from Mountfitchet Romeera Leisure Centre

Family - They say families who play together stay together and we know how important it is to ensure that the whole family participates in regular physical activity. This award recognises our fittest and most active families.

Winner – Sue and Byron Harvey from Stoke Mandeville Stadium

Runners up – The Best Family from Wyboston Health and Fitness and Crawford Family from Lord Butler Fitness & Leisure Centre


Community Spirit - This award will recognise someone who has a positive impact on others. We know there are hundreds of people who not only work in our centres but who volunteer and who go out of their way to help and support others and we think it’s about time they were celebrated. We want to hear about those special people.

Winner – Sudhir Misra from Harrow Leisure Centre
Runners up – Denis Taylor from Dorking Sports Centre and Richard Shervington from Mountfitchet Romeera Leisure Centre

Saturday 31st October marked the launch of a new initiative; with Leisure Connection and Sport England working in partnership to ensure the legacy of London 2012 continues long after the games.


On the eve of 1,000 days until London 2012 the two sporting organisations and champions of grass roots sport teamed up to show their support for the Games and its legacy by encouraging 1,000 people to sign up to volunteer over the next 1,000 days in the build up to one of the greatest sporting events world over.


Bisham Abbey and Lilleshall hosted a celebratory lunch for members of the local government and sports clubs as well as national governing bodies.


The National Sports Centres – Lilleshall and Bisham Abbey, which are owned by Sport England and Stoke Mandeville Stadium, which is owned by WheelPower will provide literature to educate and inform prospective volunteers and subsequently direct them towards the 2012 volunteer site (www.london2012.com/get-involved/volunteering) where they can register.


“We want our initiative to benefit sports people of all ages and all abilities so we’ll be using this campaign as an opportunity to call for grassroots level support within the many communities we operate in” says Zoe Dixon, Head of National Centres at Sport England.


“Volunteering can make a real difference in many sporting clubs; whether it is with a local team or even clubs looking for people to help with the accounts, marketing, even washing the kit! Offering your services to benefit a local club will have a positive impact overall on the community as well supporting London 2012.”


Volunteers are in short supply and really are the life blood of sport. Leisure Connection is pleased to be working alongside Sport England to encourage as many prospective volunteers as possible to realise their volunteering potential over the next 1,000 days.


“Volunteers can make or break the Games”, according to Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee and by investing now will help to grow, sustain and excel the athletes of tomorrow as well as playing an important role in London 2012.


Dignitaries attended from the Amateur Swimming Association, English Institute of Sport, Leisure Connection, Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Council, Sport England, Sport England South East, Team Activity Group, Windsor Ascot Maidenshead District Sports Association for the Disabled and Win Tennis to show their support for the initiative.

www.leisureconnection.co.uk/today-s-challenges/2012/

Harpers Fitness is helping a major national initiative reach local people this year with vital winter warming advice.



Hundreds of “Keep Warm, Keep Well” leaflets will be distributed at our centres as the colder weather sets in, giving top tips on staying active, eating well and keeping warm. Harpers Gyms across the UK are supporting the Government campaign.



“It is really important for us to reach as many people as possible with our Keep Warm, Keep Well, campaign, so we are delighted Harpers Gyms are lending their support. This year we are focusing on advice for low-income families, older people and people with disabilities and our leaflets give vital contact numbers for support services as well as practical information.”



“This campaign has some excellent advice on the health and well-being benefits of staying active, which is a message we’re more than happy to promote. We’re already encouraging thousands more people to get the fitness bug by supporting the Government’s two year free swimming initiative and we work closely with local GPs and health trusts, to develop fitness programmes to benefit their patients.”



“Just 30 minutes a day of physical exercise will help to increase your energy levels, control your weight, reduce stress and improve sleep patterns. If you keep up your exercise routine over a long period, your risk of some health problems, such as heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and high blood pressure is also reduced.”

Six months since the launch of the Government’s free swimming initiative Leisure Connection is reporting huge successes with over 400,000 people who qualify for the scheme swimming in their pools across the UK.

“The scheme has seen fantastic uptake far better that we envisaged – a few of our centres are already nearing the end of their grant allocation and we have only just reached the half way point! We have seen an additional 80,000 visits in the first five months against the same time period last year”, says Kate McKnight, Leisure Connection’s National Product Development Manager.

Leisure Connection has been praised by clients and customers alike for its implementation of the groundbreaking scheme and explains the secrets of their success…

Kate continues: “Planning and organisation with our Local Authority partners has been the key to a successful launch of free swimming. Working together with our clients early on has been extremely important. We spent a great deal of time looking at the scope of the scheme and together we reached sensible conclusions for client and customer alike.”
“We have invested a great deal into local PR and marketing to communicate the initiative and continue to keep the free swim at the forefront of our customer’s minds. We also spent time briefing all site-based employees about how to cope with peaks in demand for sessions and as a result recruited appropriately to reflect larger bather loads. We prepared ourselves for the possibility of a negative reaction but we have been lucky and only received positive feedback.”

The key to getting this initiative right in the future is two-way communication with customers says Leisure Connection. The company is investing a great deal into data management and finding out what their customers like and what they don’t. They believe this will be invaluable.

“We have received fantastic comments from our customers who have now realised that swimming is a great family activity and a really affordable way of beating the credit crunch, some of our older customers have been given the opportunity to take up lessons and develop a life skill that has been missing since childhood; building their confidence in the water has been a fantastic and rewarding experience for our many Aquatic Teachers and Coaches.”

As a result of the initiative Leisure Connection has been able to develop and launch a range of pool based exercise programmes, which are proving extremely popular and have been working with the ASA to offer free swimming lessons.

“Free swimming lessons offered by the ASA are proving extremely popular with the majority of people booking further lessons the following term, which is a win-win situation for all involved.”

Leisure Connection is encouraging more people to get active by offering free swimming classes, to those over the age of 11 years old, at various times throughout the year until March 2010, in line with Leisure Connection’s continued commitment to encourage more people to be more active, more often.

The free swimming classes, funded by the Amateur Swimming Association, (ASA), will be available for Non and Weak Swimmers as a great way to become more water confident and enjoy being active in the pool.

Kate McKnight, National Swimming Manager for Leisure Connection said: “Swimming is a fantastic way to keep active and stay healthy, however we have found that a lot of people are quite nervous in the pool. This initiative is a fantastic way for apprehensive swimmers to build their confidence in the water and enjoy all the benefits that swimming brings.”

Swimming is one of the most popular ways for people in this country to keep fit. Your body works hard, so 30 minutes in the pool is worth 45 minutes activity on dry land. Swimming is also low impact, which makes it great for people who have problems with their joints or find exercise difficult. By offering these free swimming classes across the country, we hope people will be encouraged to adopt a more active, healthy lifestyle.”

“We anticipate that these classes will be very popular and advise that those interested should register at their local centre as soon as possible.. ”The free swimming courses totalling 6 hours tuition are funded by the ASA and delivered by a qualified swimming instructor.”

Leisure Connection currently operate over 70 leisure centres across the UK and free swimming will be available at most of our facilities across the country. It is hoped that this will give people across the country the opportunity to visit their local leisure centre and therefore enjoy swimming and exercise as part of their everyday lifestyle.

Eleven staff from Leisure Connection, celebrated their graduation from the Leisure Connection Management Academy at an awards evening at Lilleshall National Sports Centre.

Candidates graduated with an NVQ level three in Leisure Management after a 12-month course, with others still working to complete their programme. Attending a two day module every month the trainees were given extensive training in all aspects of leisure management, including recruitment and selection, coaching and appraisals, health and safety, incident and emergency management, budgeting and sales, each giving an insight to the details behind what they do and how they interlink.

Academy trainees “shadowed” senior managers at Leisure Connection as well as attending a series of workshops and handling specific project work.


Claire Owen, Leisure Connection’s Training and Development Manager, comments: “It’s great to see our staff graduate from the Academy. They have put in a great deal of work, time and effort to their training and it’s fantastic to see them achieve their NVQ level three.”


Leisure Connection is the only operator working directly with the Learning Skills Council, enabling staff to achieve nationally recognised standards of quality and excellence. Claire Owen adds:


“The support we received from the LSC enabled us to include more team members in learning and is a fundamental part of our overall training programme. It provides a solid base of learning and development from which team members can progress and grow within the company and many of our colleagues have done just that.”

Leisure Connection staff from Riverside Leisure Centre in Norwich are pleased as punch with Contract Manager Phil Wright who successfully completed his 10,000 foot sky dive on Saturday 19th September in aid of Wheel Power, the national charity for wheelchair sport.

Each year many thousands of men, women and children become disabled due to an accident or illness. WheelPower helps these people and many others with disabilities to achieve their sporting dreams.

“WheelPower is a charity very close to our hearts here at Riverside. It’s so important to try and provide as much funding as possible and really give the gift of life back to those of us who deserve it the most,” says Phil. “I’ve raised £947 for WheelPower so far and I’m not stopping there! It was such an invigorating experience; I’m more than tempted to do it again!”

Martin McElhatton, Chief Executive of WheelPower said: “We rely on the support of individuals and companies to keep us going and all donations – however big or small make a huge difference. Just £3,000 will provide a new sports wheelchair as well as the training and support from WheelPower’s expert staff to enable each disabled child and adult to participate in sport and to lead a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life. We are extremely grateful to Phil and everyone at Leisure Connection and this fantastic donation will help WheelPower provide sporting and educational opportunities for young and newly disabled people.”

Find out more about WheelPower and its work at www.wheelpower.org.uk or make an individual donation directly to the charity via www.justgiving.com/philwright3.

“It’s fantastic to see more people enjoying exercise as part of their everyday lifestyle and testament to the impact the industry as a whole has had on the public. Fitness is no longer seen as a luxury item – it’s a necessity and seen as an important part of our daily routine. Having said that consumers are far more savvy and as a result are shopping around for the best gym deals – something we strive to deliver.”



Leisure Connection has had a positive year with a successful implementation of free swimming, hosting the prestigious ‘Bike 4 Life’ announcement by Andy Burnham MP and winning the FIA’s Future of the Flame award with Kevin Yates.



“Our success comes from staying true to our values of connecting our communities with leisure and delivering a private sector experience within a public sector environment. We have also invested heavily in our 3500 employees. Ongoing training and development is a given if you have a career with Leisure Connection, with customer service featuring highly on this list of training – ensuring the customer experience is the highest it can be.”



“We have also been very deliberate in the packages we have launched and developed – such as the Harpers Experience, which is an affordable PT package and as a result sales in this area have grown 465%.”

Leisure Connection continues on its plan of revamping and re-launching its Harpers Fitness gyms across the UK with several more re-launches planned for 2010.

Leisure Connection and its members have donated a whopping £40,000 to their nominated corporate charity – WheelPower, the national charity for wheelchair sport. 
 
Since December 2008, when the VAT rate was dropped from 17.5% to 15%, Leisure Connection, in partnership with its 60,000 members and millions of customers, opted to donate the 2.5% difference to this inspirational charity. Mark Botha, Sales Director said: "Wow, what a fantastic achievement. We are thrilled with the amount that’s been raised and donated to WheelPower. I know this money will be put to excellent use in a bid to improve and enrich the lives of disabled people living in this country. I would like to thank our members and customers for helping us achieve this amazing total."

"We have been working with WheelPower for a number of years and know first hand the truly inspirational difference this charity makes to the lives of people who have been previously unable to participate in top-level sport because of a lack of suitable wheelchairs and support."

Martin McElhatton, Chief Executive of WheelPower says: "We rely on the support of individuals and companies to keep us going and all donations, however big or small, make a huge difference. Just £3,000 will provide a new sports wheelchair, the training and support from WheelPower’s expert staff at Stoke Mandeville Stadium to enable each disabled child and adult to participate in sport and to lead a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life.  We are extremely grateful to Leisure Connection and its members and customers and this fantastic donation will help WheelPower provide sporting and educational opportunities for young and newly disabled people."  
 
So far, Leisure Connection has been able to raise over £70,000 for WheelPower, which Leisure Connection works in partnership with at Stoke Mandeville Stadium near Aylesbury, the national centre for disability sport.

Leisure Connection hosted the year's biggest Government announcements about sport and physical activity at their flagship Willesden Sports Centre on Thursday 13 August.

The great and the good from Parliament, the leisure and sport industry and other VIPs all attended a briefing by Andy Burnham MP, the Secretary of State for Health, as he set out the Government's vision for a fitter England.

In his speech, the Health Secretary called on the NHS to make the promotion of active lifestyles “core business and not a peripheral concern”. Health professionals should see improving activity rates and getting their patients moving as central to their work.

In his speech, the Health Secretary also gave an update on up and coming plans for Change4Life – the lifestyle revolution that is helping families to eat well, move more and live longer.

In line with Bike4Life, Sky, the entertainment and communications company, working with British Cycling, has organised a summer series of Skyride mass-participation cycling events across five major cities, plus hundreds of local led rides, to encourage all ages and abilities to get back on their bikes. Sky’s target is to inspire a million more people to ride in the next five years.

A Dance Champions Group featuring stars of Strictly Come Dancing including Arlene Phillips, Lisa Snowdon and Darren Bennett, and Come Dancing star Angela Rippon, will be running a national campaign to boost participation in dance in the run up to 2012.

Swim4Life - around 250 councils have already signed up to the Free Swimming programme. More than 20 million young people and senior citizens are eligible to swim for free, and 4.4 million free swims have been made since the scheme began in April. The Department is now reopening the bidding rounds, with another £1 million pounds on offer for councils who didn’t sign up in the first place. In the coming weeks it will also be looking to see how it can support existing free swimming councils to innovate and extend the free swimming offer.

Fresh efforts to build on Natural England’s Walking for Health campaign to make 200,000 more people active by 2012 through Walking for Health under the Walk4Life brand.  The Walk4Life programme already provides a service for 30,000 people every week.

Victoria Branch, Leisure Connection’s Marketing Manager said: “Firstly it was great to welcome Andy Burnham MP and the VIPS and media to Willesden Sports Centre. It’s great to see the Government re-committing themselves to boosting sport and physical activity. We are looking forward to working with the Department of Health and the FIA to ensure these initiatives can be delivered locally for the benefit of our communities and the millions of customers we welcome into out centres each year.”

Kevin Yates, National Health and Fitness Manager for Leisure Connection has won the FIA’s prestigious new award – the Future of the Flame.

Kevin, who has worked within the leisure industry for more than 15 years, won the award for his commitment to delivering excellence in leisure for all communities while implementing successful strategies across the country.

Kevin said of his achievement: “I am absolutely delighted to win the award and I would personally thank each of our industry colleagues who voted. However this really was a team effort and I could not have done it without the hard work and dedication of my colleagues. We have designed and implemented many new concepts across Leisure Connection and it’s fantastic to be recognised for our achievements.

I want Leisure Connection and its Harpers Fitness brand to be the premier choice for leisure, health and fitness in the UK, while maintaining our core principles as we grow and develop a team of industry role models to professionally represent Leisure Connection in all aspects of health and fitness.”

FIA judges recognised Kevin for a raft of achievements which put accessibility at the top of the leisure industry agenda. They included:

• Launching the highly successful personal training packages for Leisure Connection’s gym brand Harpers Fitness. The affordable personal training package has seen personal training at Harpers increase by 465%, shattering the myth that personal training is only for the rich and famous.
• Working closely with Primary Care Trusts to ensure centres have fully functioning GP and exercise referral programmes.
• Working closely with Buckinghamshire University and WheelPower – the National Charity for Wheelchair Sport – to launch inclusive sports programme consisting of Wheelchair basketball and to have all facilities with coaches to go out into their sites and wider communities to deliver disability sport.
• Designing and managing the re launch of six new Harpers Fitness gyms overseeing £2 million worth of investment into new equipment and facilities.
• Launching a new innovative concept, Harpers Steel, a low-cost alternative to private clubs and leisure centres, which gives people the opportunity to try physical activity cheaply and with no obligation.

Leading public access leisure provider Leisure Connection has appointed Adrian Fisher as Human Resources Director.

Adrian joins Leisure Connection from construction company Kier where he was head of HR and Development for part of the business responsible for delivering a building maintenance service to local authority and registered social landlord tenants.

At Leisure Connection Adrian will be responsible for leading the Human Resources and Development agenda to ensure that the staff team remain best placed to continue to provide private sector quality in a public sector environment.

Adrian said: “I am really enjoying my new role at Leisure Connection and I have been busy travelling the country and visiting individual sites. I’ve been struck by the enthusiasm and commitment of our staff and the range and quality of the services we offer to our customers.

It feels like a great time to be at Leisure Connection and I’m very much looking forward to working with the team and working in the leisure industry.”

Leisure Connection has announced that the Vale Farm Sports Centre has qualified for Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) accreditation following an extensive inspection by the IFI.

The Inclusive Fitness Initiative works in support of the fitness industry to ensure that fitness facilities cater for the needs of disabled and non-disabled people. The IFI programme is built around developments in four key areas of fitness provision: accessible facilities, inclusive fitness equipment, staff training and inclusive marketing strategies.

Following a vigorous inspection process the centre passed with flying colours. To build upon this accreditation the centre’s fitness staff will also be benefitting from disability sports training through The Stoke Mandeville Institute of Sport and Education a partnership between Leisure Connection, WheelPower, Bucks New University and Bucks and Milton Keynes Sports Partnership and will provide a unique programme of sports, education and training opportunities for disabled people and those working in disability sport.

The aim of the institute is to enable disabled people to become involved in sport as athletes, coaches, administrators or officials and to increase the number of qualified coaches, officials, volunteers and classifiers available within sport. It is hoped the new facility will contribute to the legacy of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Vale Farm Sports Centre staff have undergone IFI training, teaching them the necessary skills to provide a safe, effective and fun workout for people with disabilities.

The Hub National Centre for Craft & Design in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, has been personally commended and congratulated on its outstanding performance by Francois Matarasso, Chair of Arts Council England in the East Midlands.

The Hub’s purpose is to celebrate, promote and exhibit the very best of international craft and design. This is made possible through the partnership between Leisure Connection, North Kesteven District Council, and Arts Council England.

"Everyone at the Arts Council – staff and council members – knows what it takes to achieve such good work, especially in the increasingly challenging climate. We’re very pleased to have been able to support the whole Hub team in achieving these positive results", wrote Mr. Matarasso to Phil Cosker, Director of The Hub.

"The Regional Council was impressed and encouraged by the excellent work that was reported from a wide range of arts organisations across the region. The Hub was one of these organisations particularly highlighted."

The Hub stages a wide range of craft and design exhibitions in its two galleries and it is the largest space dedicated to craft and design in England. In addition, learning workshops and events are offered throughout the year that are suitable for all. All exhibitions are free and in addition the stunning Hub Craft Shop and Riverside Café make the Hub an ideal place to visit and enjoy. For further information see www.thehubcentre.info

Phil Cosker, the Hub’s Director, said: "I’m delighted. This represents an important milestone in recognising and valuing the incredible hard work of a very talented team of people. We have a fantastic programme of exhibitions coming up that include "London Boutique Fashion" in 2010, and "British Bicycle Design" in 2012 to celebrate the Olympic and Paralympics Games."

Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the home of British Wheelchair Sport has launched a brand new facility designed to unite education with disability sports.

The Stoke Mandeville Institute of Sport and Education is a partnership between Leisure Connection, WheelPower, Bucks New University and Bucks and Milton Keynes Sports Partnership and will provide a unique programme of sports, education and training opportunities for disabled people and those working in disability sport.

The aim of the institute is to enable disabled people to become involved in sport as athletes, coaches, administrators or officials and to increase the number of qualified coaches, officials, volunteers and classifiers available within sport. It is hoped the new facility will contribute to the legacy of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Andrew Marshall, Managing Director of Leisure Connection, which manages Stoke Mandeville Stadium on behalf of WheelPower said: "We are proud to be a partner in this project which promises to open many doors for those passionate about inclusive sports, and encourage newly disabled people that there are plenty of opportunities out there for them within disability sport. We will continue to devote resources and provide help to ensure its success."

Educational courses will be delivered at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, some of which will be technology based, enabling students to attend courses ‘virtually’. Professor Chris Kemp, Executive Dean for the Faculty of Enterprise and Innovation at Bucks New University, commented: "Bucks is one of the first universities to become directly involved with disability sport and this progressive pathway of sports education is unique. The partnership combines a ‘new’ university linked to Stoke Mandeville Stadium, and by working in partnership, Bucks New University will be able to contribute to a more coordinated and effective delivery system for disability sports education."

As the National Centre for Disability Sport, Stoke Mandeville Stadium is an inspiring venue which provides a high quality, fully accessible site incorporating numerous sports facilities alongside conferencing, training and accommodation capabilities, making it an ideal venue for education and training in disability sport.


Martin McElhatton, Chief Executive of WheelPower, said: "Through the wonderful opportunities this new Institute will create, disabled people and those who want to get involved in disability sport will be able to enhance their skills. The Institute will support sports bodies to develop their workforce and provide an educational pathway from NVQs up to degree level courses. Our unique partnership brings together experience from the educational, commercial and sports sectors and aims to leave a lasting legacy in sport and education."

As one of the nationwide network of County Sports Partnerships, the Bucks & Milton Keynes Sports Partnership has a key role to play in supporting the new Institute by helping to link to a range of networks, identify needs and communicate the Institute's offer. Lee Mason, Director of the Partnership, who also works on behalf of the national CSP Network, commented: "This innovative proposal provides an opportunity to really use the power of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and the inspirational Stoke Mandeville Stadium to create a step change in disability sport through a more comprehensive, coordinated and quality assured education programme, with an emphasis on practical training and the opportunity for hands on experience and mentoring support."

Courses scheduled to be offered at the Institute this year include: An Introduction to Disability Sport; Running Sport: A Club For All; Certificate in Sports Leadership; and Wheelchair Basketball Grade 1 Coaching Assistant. If you are interested in arranging or undertaking disability sports education, please contact info@smise.org.uk  or visit www.smise.org.uk .

Three of Leisure Connection's leisure centres have been highly commended in the National Benchmarking Service Awards.

Harpenden Sports Centre, Lord Butler Leisure Centre and the Great Dunmow Leisure Centre have finished in the top 6 in the league tables for financial performance following the recent assessment by the National Benchmarking Service.

Great Dunmow Leisure Centre has also finished in the top six in the UK in the Access category.

The National Benchmarking Service provides critical data on the performance of leisure centres across the UK. The NBS brings together the expertise of Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University, Ipsos MORI and sports consultancy PMP to work on behalf of Sport England to provide a rigorous and valuable collection and analysis of participation, financial and customer satisfaction data.

Nigel Court, Contract Manager of Uttlesford praised the work of the whole team and their commitment to delivering top quality service. He said: "This is fantastic reward for all the hard work our staff put in daily. We aim to provide the best service possible for our customers and we are thrilled that this has been recognised by the National Benchmarking Service."

Peter Howells, Operations Director for Leisure Connection said: "We are delighted that three of our centres have scored so highly in the NBS Awards. Having some of the best performing sites in the country is a great indication of the hard work our staff and management put in throughout the year. This recognition demonstrates our continued commitment to improvement and to provide the highest quality sports, facilities and services."

Harpers Fitness, Leisure Connection’s fitness brand is launching a new member awards programme, which will recognise and celebrate the success stories and achievements of the 20 million customers it welcomes through its doors each year.

The Harpers Heroes Awards will launch on Wednesday 8 April and will be open to all Harpers Fitness members and customers. Harpers Fitness members and customers will be able to enter the awards via the Harpers Fitness website at www.harpersheroes.co.uk. It is hoped that the awards will inspire and motivate and inspire others.

The overall winner of the award will win £3,000, with category winners receiving a lifelong Harpers membership. The awards will culminate in a ceremony that will take place at the end of the year at the historic and prestigious Bisham Abbey, which is also part of the Leisure Connection group.

Victoria Branch, Marketing Manager for Leisure Connection said: “We are very proud of our members and users for the hard work they put in to leading a more active and healthy lifestyle and we thought it was about time their efforts were recognised and celebrated.”

We know we have some fantastic success stories across our portfolio but we know there are thousands more. Over the next few months we will be encouraging members who have beaten the bulge, have used exercise to overcome a health issue or have managed to improve their families’ fitness through exercising together to enter the awards. Any achievement, big or small we want to hear about it.”

The awards have been split the awards into five categories, which are detailed below.

Shape
This award recognises someone who has worked hard to lose weight. We know losing weight isn’t easy – it requires dedication and commitment but it’s well worth it when you achieve your target.

Health
This award recognises someone who has adopted physical activity to help with a health issue. Exercise isn’t just beneficial for weight management – it can assist and aid other conditions and problems.

Fitness
This award recognises someone who has improved their levels of fitness or pushed their levels of fitness to the max in a bid to achieve something remarkable.

Family
They say families who play together stay together and we know how important it is to ensure that the whole family participates in regular physical activity. This award recognises our fittest and most active families.

Community Spirit
This award will recognise someone who has a positive impact on others. We know there are hundreds of people who not only work in our centres but who volunteer and who go out of their way to help and support others and we think it’s about time they were celebrated. We want to hear about those special people.

The deadline for entry and nominations is Monday 14th September 2009.

Harpers Fitness, the national chain of community public access sport and leisure facilities has launched a new online shop www.harpersnutrition.co.uk, which specialises in offering lifestyle, weight loss, performance and body building nutritional supplements.

The quality range of products makes it easier to build muscle, tone up, lose fat, increase your energy or recover faster; whatever you need to reach your fitness or dietary goals. If you're new to sports nutrition the straight forward, easy to follow web site will help get you started straightaway.

The lifestyle section includes antioxidants, detox packages and amino acid supplements from ‘Ultra Life’ which help protect, support and manage the body’s detoxification process. The growing weight loss market is also catered for on the site with ‘Easy Body’ and ‘Perfect UK’ tablets and shakes which can help maintain prolonged focus during sustained workouts.

Performance is also catered for, primarily to support increased energy, strength and performance when experiencing new levels of training intensity. Dorian Yates’ ‘Ultimate Formula’ fronts the Body Building section with a variety of nutritional supplements and protein shakes for the muscular connoisseur.

Harpers Nutrition Shop adds to the growing repertoire of the expanding Harpers Fitness brand which now includes Harpers Health and Fitness Centres, Harpers Experience Personal Training and the Harpers Online Shop.

As a welcome to their new customers, Harpers Nutrition are offering 10% off your order value by entering a limited edition redemption code until the end of March.

Leisure Connection has appointed Richard Millman to the position of Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.

Richard has been working within Leisure Connection’s parent Group – Danoptra, since
September 2007 as the Group Strategy Director. Richard brings a wealth of marketing,
commercial, retail and general management experience to the leading leisure operator, Leisure Connection.

Before joining Danoptra, Richard has worked for many national and international companies and brands such as DSG International – namely PC World, Coca Cola and Guinness.

Richard Millman comments: “It’s an exciting time to join Leisure Connection. Sport and physical activity has never been higher up the government agenda and it’s great to see Leisure Connection working so proactively with government departments and key organisations to get more people moving.”

“Leisure Connection has a great team in place, delivering some fantastic initiatives and operating top class facilities. I am particularly looking forward to working with our partners to ensure we are working together to encourage even more people into our centres in a bid to get the nation more active.”

Leisure Connection, the UK’s leading leisure facility provider, has been recognised for its hard work in making its leisure centres more environmentally friendly.

The company, which operates 70 leisure centres across the country, recently won the Client of the Year Award at the Low Carbon Awards, hosted by the Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers (CIBSE).

Leisure Connection beat off stiff competition from Somerfield to scoop the award for all the work carried out in encouraging environmental awareness on sites, for its technical trials of energy efficient products and the rollout of these products across its estate.

Paul Bailey, Head of Property Services for Leisure Connection said: “I am delighted that we have received national recognition for the hard work being carried out by the Technical Team, our Energy Champions and Local Authority partners to reduce our carbon footprint and costs. I expect this award to be the springboard for even more energy savings in the future. Leisure Connection is fully committed to improving the energy efficiency across our estate and will continue to invest in the best technology and practice to achieve this.

The CIBSE Low Carbon Awards were first launched in 2008 and proved to be an outstanding success attended by guests from all sectors of the Building Services Industry. The awards showcase innovative and inspirational low carbon solutions and are open to CIBSE Low Carbon Consultants, CIBSE Low Carbon Energy Assessors and to participants of the 100 Hours of Carbon Clean Up campaign.