Charitable trust Tone Leisure has become the first leisure trust in the south west to be awarded the Social Enterprise Mark.

The Mark is administered by a joint venture set up between the Social Enterprise Coalition, the national body for social enterprise, and RISE, the social enterprise regional network for the south west. It is awarded to businesses that meet specific criteria which demonstrate they are working toward social or environmental goals, and in which at least 50% of profits are reinvested towards these goals.

Tone joins prestigious names such as The Eden Project in successfully applying for the Mark. As a not-for-profit trust Tone not only operates and manages leisure facilities on behalf of local government, it is also one of the only leisure trusts nationwide to provide sports and health development services. As a result of these services, Tone has managed to secure £670,000 in grant funding over the past four years.

"We were delighted to be successful in our application to become a Social Enterprise Mark holder, especially as we are the first leisure trust in the south west to do so," said Joel Chapman, Tone Leisure's commercial director.

"It reflects the ethos behind Tone in that we're passionate about health and fitness, and work hard to make facilities and programmes as accessible as possible to people in the region. As a leisure trust our remit is to reinvest any profit into the organisation to continually improve our facilities and services for the benefit of the communities in which we operate, so we're pleased to be able to display the Mark as a symbol of this socially conscious way of working."

Government figures estimate that there are around 62,000 social enterprises in the UK, contributing £24 billion to the economy and employing at least 800,000 people. Tone currently operates a total of 11 leisure facilities across the south west, including a Tennis Centre, several swimming pools and leisure centres, and a golf course, employing over 600 people.

It recently launched a new young people's fitness zone at Wellington Sports Centre with over £200,000 from The Big Lottery Fund's Young People's Fund Programme in order to provide a safe place for children and young people to meet outside school.

Tone also participates in the FANS (Free Access for National Sportspeople) scheme, in which those competing or performing at a national level in any sport recognised by Sport England are provided with free access to local fitness facilities in order to help them achieve their sporting ambitions.

Photograph: (l-r) Paul Lang, Activities Manager (Tone Leisure), Jane Chandler, Receptionist (Tone Leisure), Tabby Dare, Conference and Meetings Administrator (Tone Leisure), Karen Arnold, Chair of the Board of Trustees (Tone Leisure), Anne Mountjoy (RISE), Juliette Dickinson, Managing Director (Tone Leisure)