University of Birmingham Sport (UBSport) were named the National Fitness Awards 2010 Gym of the Year for Midlands and Wales at a spectacular gala dinner held at the National Railway Station, York on Thursday, November 25.
The awards, organised by Workout Magazine and hosted by Olympian swimmer Sharron Davies, included over 400 nominees and finalists representing the very best in the UK who gathered to recognise those clubs and individuals who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to health and fitness.
In order to win the title for Gym of the Year Midlands and Wales, UBSport had to fight of competition from five other shortlisted clubs.
All those shortlisted were visited by a panel of four judges in the weeks running up to the event to prove they demonstrated excellent progress in areas such as – but not exclusively –member recruitment, improvement to facilities and staff training.
UBSport’s fitness suite was deemed regional winner as the judges were impressed with in-house training for staff and
ommitment to keeping the equipment up-to-date through new software developed by staff which notifies them when equipment needs replacing. This reduces the downtime of equipment for gym members.
In addition, the Thrive strategy which uses road shows to take health and fitness out to the wider university community was commended as an excellent way to get health information across in a relaxed and friendly manner.
Lee Costin, UBSport Health and Fitness Manager, said, ‘We are extremely thrilled to have collected this award as it shows that all the hard work from my staff over the last few years has paid off.’
He continued, ‘We are particularly happy that our ‘Thrive’ innovation has been noticed and we look forward to improving even more over the next 12 months.’
His sentiments were echoed by UBSport marketing manager Glen O’Donovan ‘We’ve worked hard to raise the profile of the fitness services team this year and the services it provides. This award is a tribute to an amazing overall team effort.’
He continued, ‘UBSport was the only University represented at the awards ceremony and we have shown that despite the limitations of our present facilities we can compete with the best commercial operators in the industry.’