The 2025 Belgravia Leisure awards night was a spectacular celebration of passion, innovation and community impact. Hosted with infectious enthusiasm by National Operations Assistant Cherie Mills, the event brought together leaders, teams, sponsors and special guests from across the Belgravia Group to honour the outstanding achievements of the past year.
From heartfelt speeches to laughter, inspiration and a whole lot of dance floor antics, the awards night was filled with both energy and pride. To kickstart the evening, Chairman Geoff Lord set the tone with his visionary reflections, while CEO Nick Cox shared his pride in all that has been achieved in the past year, thanking teams for helping the business achieve success beyond expectations, whilst also;
- Welcoming 18 new venues and retaining 36 venues
- Hitting 70,000 GOswim members, with the addition of our new aquatics venues in the ACT
- Reaching over 700,000 golf visits
- Welcoming 7 million aquatics visits both in learn to swim and recreational swims
- Welcoming another 7 million visits to our health club, sport and recreation facilities
- Creating memorable moments for guests across 2 million nights spent in our Tourist Parks; and
- Training over 2,000 people via our CPR/First Aid courses
Relive the energy, emotion and unforgettable moments from the night and celebrate the incredible people and achievements that made 2025 one to remember.
There were over 110 nominations received for the award categories this year, with the high quality of nominations creating some difficult decisions for our judges. Without further ado, our Belgravia Leisure 2025 award winners are…
Guest First Award: CentrePoint Sport & Leisure Centre
One of our newer venues hit the ground running, posting fantastic NPS and Mystery Shop results, as well as incredible attention to detail in the Guest First Month standards workshops. Also worth mentioning, they currently have a 4.5 star Google rating!
Safety Award: Yawa Aquatic Centre
Yawa Aquatic Centre has truly embodied the “Think Safe, Act Safe, Be Safe” mantra, setting a gold standard in safety excellence. Through initiatives like the Triple A’s for Aquatic Safety and Platinum Pool recognition, plus innovative lifeguard observations and emergency controls, they’ve created a culture where safety is everyone’s responsibility. Their efforts culminated in a life-saving CPR on a 17-year-old gym user.
Innovation Award: Pelican Park Pop Up
The Pelican Park pop up may well have contributed to retaining the Mornington contract by showing the local team’s commitment to working with Council whilst yielding significant commercial benefits. It also allowed several hundred individuals to continue participating in physical activity and remain engaged with the venue and community.
Health Club of the Year: East Fremantle Community Park
East Fremantle Community Park have nailed both engagement and impact. Their programs align with the Public Health Plan and transform lives through movement and community.
Swim School of the Year: Stromlo Leisure Centre
Stromlo stood out by excelling across all judging criteria. From exceptional program growth and class occupancy to community outreach and team development, they’ve delivered impact with heart. Their commitment to customer feedback, retention and culture makes them a true leader.
Sustainability Award: Yawa Aquatic Centre
Yawa Aquatic Centre achieved a water usage per visitor 54% below the industry average and maintained exceptional energy efficiency. Yawa’s team actively reports on sustainability and collaborates with partners to meet environmental goals.
Community Program Award: Knox Leisureworks – Veterans Exercise Program
An inspiring initiative supporting Veterans through tailored exercise programs co-designed with participants. With expert input from the Exercise Physiology team and a welcoming café chat ritual, the program fosters both physical and social wellbeing. Extending to partners and widows, it deepens community impact and connection.
Inclusive Project Program Award: Gungahlin Leisure Centre – Refugee & Migrant Swim Program & Afghan Women’s Group
This important initiative was launched to address tragic drownings in the ACT, securing funding and sustaining its impact. Through strong community engagement and partnership, the program innovatively welcomes, supports, and includes participants.
Belgravia Foundation Award: Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre – Ukrainian Refugee Aquatic Program
In partnership with STARTTS, they created culturally safe aquatic programs for newly arrived Ukrainian refugees. With nearly 80 Learn to Swim participants and 20–30 regular Aqua Aerobics attendees, the initiative promotes water safety and healing, benefiting families and the community.
Support Superstar Award: Sarah Podesta
Sarah is described as the strategic force behind Belgravia Leisure’s aquatic excellence, particularly through her leadership of the GOswim program. Her work has elevated the program nationally, and she is recognised for her innovation, community focus and operational support.
Tourism Venue of the Year: Ocean Beach Tourist Park
This park not only has exceptional commitment to improvement and great contract partner relationships, but the guest experience given by this park is second to none, beating income on budget by 7% and a Mystery Shop of 100%.
NSW Venue of the Year: Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre
Delivered exceptional results across every category—including a 40-point leap in employee engagement, a 94% average in Lifeguard Mystery Shops and a 10-point rise in NPS.
ACT Venue of the Year: Stromlo Leisure Centre
Stromlo earned the inaugural ACT Venue of the Year award through targeted marketing, innovative initiatives like a 24/7 gym and excellent guest service. The team grew membership by over 1,000 and maintained above 95% on safety audits.
New Zealand Venue of the Year: Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa
In its first year, Wai Ariki welcomed a huge number of guests to embark on a journey grounded in the values, traditions and cultural heritage of Ngāti Whakaue. The venue has earnt themselves a 4.7 Google rating and consistently achieving a GRI above 90%. Their digital marketing also returned over 10x ROI.
Queensland Venue of the Year: Lawnton Aquatic Centre
Lawnton shines as an outstanding facility, demonstrating exceptional customer service, community engagement and financial performance, achieving a 92% eNPS and a 95.37% Royal Life Audit.
VIC/TAS Venue of the Year: Monbulk Aquatic Centre
Monbulk stood out for its resilience, outstanding service and strong leadership, overcoming storm closures to maintain high customer satisfaction and a perfect Mystery Shop record.
SA Venue of the Year: Wulanda Convention & Recreation Centre
Wulanda delivered an outstanding turnaround! With strong financial results and health scorecard outcomes, they boosted community engagement and employee sentiment soared.
WA Venue of the Year: Carramar Golf Course
With exceptional operational results, a thriving safety-first culture and strong alignment to strategic priorities, Carramar has delivered a successful year across all areas.
Our Belgravia Leisure Venue of the Year is…
Drum roll please…
Congratulations, Lawnton Aquatic Centre!
The venue has performed well in a number of key areas of our venue health scorecard, achieving a significant score in both non-financial and financial KPIs:
- One of the lowest Gap % in the company at 3%
- Gross Margin increase of 2.3%
- Wage to income ratio decrease on previous year
- An eNPS score of 92.3% in 2025, up from 60% in 2024
- Mystery Shop average 89%
- 95.37% Royal Life Audit Score
As we celebrate the winners and nominees, we also look forward to another year of growth, innovation and community connection. Congratulations to all who were recognised and thank you to everyone who makes Belgravia Leisure a place of excellence and inclusion.
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