Weymouth wins

WPNSA and Scottish and Southern Energy are awarded a prestigious Sport Industry Award

The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA), along with its leading sponsor Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), has won a prestigious Sport Industry Award.

The pair were awarded the Environmental Concern in Sport Award for their entry Scottish and Southern Energy, powering the National Sailing Academy, at a star-studded central London ceremony on Thursday 1 May.

The Sport Industry Awards is the biggest event of its kind in Europe, recognising and rewarding commercial achievement in UK sport in marketing, PR, sponsorship and digital media. To the entering agencies, brands and governing bodies, it is a chance to showcase their endeavours of the year in front of their peers and the wider industry, with the Awards now considered the highest endorsement of accomplishment in the world of sport.

The judges rewarded a programme that showed a “discernible legacy of environmental concern in action” - as a result of the sponsorship, the Academy’s level of renewable electricity increased by 37% in 2007 , while SSE has immeasurably improved the performance of its emerging technologies from an environmental standpoint.

Anna Crampin, Partnerships Manager at Scottish and Southern Energy, comments, “It is a fantastic achievement to have won this Award. Working with a high profile venue such as WPNSA has provided us with both a vital test-bed and a platform to showcase our emerging renewable technologies and products. As well as providing a full environmental impact assessment, an active recycling programme and renewable energy on site, our sponsorship also donated funds for the Academy’s youth development and reduced-rate community sailing schemes.”

The association means that the Academy is on track to achieve a target set by LOCOG that 20% of electricity generated be done so using renewable energy by the end of 2011.

Mark Stubbings, Chief Executive of WPNSA, adds, “I am absolutely delighted that we have won this Award. I would like to thank SSE for their continued support of the Academy and for their work with us on our environmental policies and legacy development programmes. Without the support of our sponsors, it would be extremely difficult for us to continue to offer our reduced-rate community sailing programmes that ensure we get as many local youngsters as possible out on the water and involved in an active and healthy life. Similarly, we would not be in the position we are in today – that of being one of the most environmentally conscious venues in the UK - without SSE.”