LUSU and the Engine Room were awarded Silver in the reputable design effectiveness awards ceremony (#dba) which took place on Thursday 29th June.

This outstanding accolade is in recognition of the fabulous work The Engine Room has achieved in rebranding and renaming LUSU Sports Ltd.

We can’t even begin to thank Lesley, Darren, Leo and the whole team, who were with us from the start, who created our brand LUSU Sports, a play on our names (Lou and Sue) but with meaning behind the name (Learning United, Sports Unlimited).

Throughout the years, Lesley and Darren have not only assisted in creating our fabulous brand, but have become good friends along the journey. The uniqueness of this award, is that it is shared between design company and client – we have an award each which fits together to make one! And this makes it so special.

We are very proud of our achievements over the years, some of these are seen in the executive summary of the report.

The full application can be downloaded here.

To team up with your best friend on the LUSU journey is such a privilege and what a ride we’re on!

What a team to work with

We can’t thank the team enough for everything they have done for us. We are inspired every time we step into their creative space. Such a dynamic, friendly and very knowledgable team.

The Design Effectiveness Awards are led by the Design Business Association, the national trade association for design.

On Wednesday 15th June, LUSU Sports received their Cheshire LTA County Disability Award at the Bentley showroom in Knutsford. It was great to celebrate with friends and family and meet Jon Crossley (the Managing Director of Bentley Manchester).

LUSU were joined by Jayne Grantham, Clive Young and Liz Sweeting from Cheshire LTA and Jon Crossley from Bentley.

The nomination included the following:

‘What a great year LUSU has had coming out of lockdown, supporting schools, clubs and local & national charities in getting children & young adults active and back into tennis. LUSU started the year, sending activity video sessions, equipment and delivering “zoom in the room” to the families to help support their child, who has a disability, keep active. As lockdown eased not everybody went back to their school and college settings and so LUSU decided to help with some people’s confidence to help them get back into society and tennis. LUSU’s sessions also helped the families of these people and provided essential support to those who had often felt isolated and alone.

LUSU enjoyed and got huge satisfaction from getting out into the local community and delivering weekly tennis sessions in the local parks, church halls and playgrounds for the local charities Timeout, Friends for Leisure & Seashell Trust.

In Sue’s words “I’ve loved seeing their faces and how excited they are when I arrive with my trolley full of tennis equipment.”

LUSU now engage with several local clubs delivering their programme and training coaches from all sports including swimming. One of… … their players, Grace Stockdale, who now volunteers with LUSU, won National Singles and Doubles in the Downs Syndrome National Championships in 2021. LUSU was asked by The Dan Maskell Trust to deliver a fun tennis session to the families with children or young adults with additional needs. It was so nice seeing the families all working together. Mencap, Sense, Headway and Scope also approached LUSU to deliver their online disability sensory and tennis activators training course to their staff so they could transfer the skills to their children & young adults who have been attending weekly tennis sessions. They were thrilled to be asked to support the NATSPEC Games in partnership with AoC Sports. LUSU delivered a warmup and online tennis challenges to 45 colleges and had 1554 students taking part. LUSU are committed to ensuring every individual has access to the complete sports experience.

LUSU, Louise and Sue, now travel UK wide delivering their programme and training activators. They have designed a Diversity and Inclusion course for Cheshire LTA which has recently been piloted.

LUSU were National LTA Award winners 2 years ago but continue to be Life Game Changers in their field to many people. They progress every year and are outstanding in what they do and they have made life far more bearable for many disabled people and their families during the pandemic years.’

Thank you everyone who has supported LUSU Sports on our journey, we love what we do and days like these give us an extra boost.