Heywood Sports Village, in Greater Manchester, has been recognised as an example of good practice by Sport England.

The £10.5m centre, which opened in 2010, combines external artificial and grass pitches with a single structure housing sports hall, swimming pools and fitness facilities with broader spaces for youth and community use.

A 222 per cent increase in centre visits in the first four months was just one of the impressive statistics surrounding the opening of the centre - one of Link4Life's portfolio of facilities in the borough of Rochdale - which also saw fitness membership rise by around 600 per cent.

Heywood Sports Village will now feature in a series of Autumn seminars being organised by Sport England which focuses on improving organisational efficiency and the benefits of facility rationalisation, particularly in a time of growing financial pressure.

Craig McAteer, Managing Director at Link4Life will be among the line up of speakers at each of the three events. In anticipation of the events - one of which will be hosted at the centre in Heywood - he said: "Heywood is a winning partnership of investment in new facilities and community involvement and this has played an important part in its success as has the versatile building design. I am delighted to share this experience with colleagues and to look at how operational efficiencies can be made to help safeguard provision without sacrificing the breadth and quality of offer."