Honours for two sports centres

The English Institute of Sport took the "Club of the Year" for under 1,000 members title and Concord Sports Centre was named "Centre of the Year", narrowly beating Hillsborough Leisure Centre.

Lorenzo Clark, director of operations for Sheffield International Venues (SIV), which runs all three facilities, said: "The goal for every leisure centre is to win the FLAME award.

"The awards act as a national benchmark for leisure centres up and down the country."

Hillsborough was going for its fifth FLAME Award, having won the "Centre of the Year" title an unprecedented four times from 2005 to 2008.

David Stalker, executive director of the Fitness Industry Association, said: "The FLAME Award is the highest accolade you can win in the health and fitness industry.

"The judges saw that Concord went under a transformation with a new team that barely knew each other a year ago, yet beat stiff competition and proved that they have the best combination of technical, professional and people skills in the business."

Meanwhile, a fourth park in Rotherham has been given a "Green Flag" award.

Bradgate Park in Kimberworth has been added to the list of Rotherham Council-run parks now bestowed with the accolade, joining Rawmarsh's Rosehill Victoria Park, Thrybergh Country Park and Rother Valley Country Park.

Coun Ian St John, Rotherham Council's cabinet member for cultural services and sport, said: "It is fantastic news for Rotherham that yet another of our wonderful parks has passed the test and been given this fantastic accolade."