Council team wins award for active lifestyle work

The council team was awarded best service team in the sports, leisure and cultural category

East Riding of Yorkshire Council's health and wellbeing team has won a national award.

The team, which manages the region's leisure centres, was recognised at the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) annual charity awards dinner, in aid of Parkinson’s UK, in Bristol last week.

The council team won best service team in the sports, leisure and cultural category.

It was recognised for its work to help residents to become more active.

To enter the awards, councils submit data which is independently validated and compared with other authorities to see how effective services are.

Awards are then given to councils that have shown the best performance, or biggest improvements, or for special initiatives, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillor Nick Coultish, East Riding's cabinet member for leisure and tourism, said the award demonstrated the team’s "passion and commitment".

"Huge congratulations to everyone [involved]," he added.

The council has 10 leisure centres across the region, including in Beverley, Bridlington and Goole, along with a number of initiatives and events to encourage people to live a more active lifestyle

Other winners included South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership for the best building and housing initiative.

The overall winner was Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.

Mo Baines, APSE's chief executive, said: "Across local government, there are a multitude of people working to deliver the very best for their local communities.

"This year’s winners are a testament to the innovation, dedication and perseverance shown by the unsung heroes of local government.”

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