A major sports venue for London and the South East has achieved the highest accolade to be awarded by a leading national quality scheme.

Lee Valley Athletics Centre in Edmonton, north London, has been assessed as ‘excellent’ by Quest accreditation, the UK quality scheme for sport and leisure management, which is backed by Sport England.

The assessors based their decision on a set of rigorous standards that involved scrutinising the centre’s business plans, customer service, health and safety, cleanliness and general maintenance.

The centre was praised for the relationship it has with its partners including UK Athletics (UKA) and English Institute of Sport, who have bases on site and its extensive programme of events and training courses that are available to athletes at all levels who come from across London, Essex, South East England and Hertfordshire.

The assessors noted the programme of coaching and training for both juniors and adults and the plans that enable the transition of the casual athlete to higher performance, including the centre’s partnership with Enfield and Haringey Athletics Club and its programme of school tournaments. They were impressed with the access for athletes with disabilities, who have very good opportunities to train and be coached in their particular sport.

Following a mystery visit to the centre and anonymous enquiries made by email and telephone, the assessors commented on the friendliness of the staff and the professional and prompt way in which they responded to queries.

Overall, the Quest inspectors felt the Lee Valley Athletics Centre is “modern, of an excellent standard and equipped to a very high level” and that cleanliness is of a high standard.

Chief Executive of Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, Shaun Dawson said: “We are extremely pleased to have achieved this Quest accreditation and very proud of the fact that Lee Valley Athletics Centre is one of just three sports venues in the country to have attained ‘excellent’.

“This is a testament to the centre manager Mick Bond and his team who are 100 per cent committed to providing a high quality service and meeting the needs and expectations of customers.

“From elite athletes to casual athletes and schoolchildren, Lee Valley Athletics Centre has proved it is accessible to all. This is a standard we want to set for all our sports venues.”

Neil Black, Head of UKA’s Sports Medicine and Science commented: “Lee Valley Athletics Centre is one of only two National Performance Centres for athletics and completely delivers as a world class training venue.

“All of our staff and athletes benefit from the excellent facilities, the staff at Lee Valley are knowledgeable about the needs of elite athletes and the venue has played a pivotal role each year in preparing the Aviva GB & NI team for that summer’s major championships.”

To achieve ‘excellent’, venues need to achieve a minimum score of 86 per cent. Further information about Quest is available on www.questnbs.org