Staff at an award-winning outdoor education centre in Ilkley are celebrating again after scooping another accolade.

The Nell Bank Outdoor Education Centre, in Denton Road, is one of the first organisations in the UK to have been awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge which was launched earlier this year.

The government initiative, administered by the Field Studies Council, recognises high-quality, safely-managed outdoor educational activities for children and young people.

Tony Thomas, chief exec-utive of the FSC and govern-ment adviser who carried out the one-day inspection, praised the centre’s site layout and the overall standard of the facilities at Nell Bank, which has stunning views of Ilkley Moor, the Cow and Calf rocks and the River Wharfe.

Managed by Bradford Council’s early years, childcare and play service, the centre is surrounded by 100 acres of woodland and also won the National Lottery Awards best environmental project in 2008 and was given £2,000 towards a new residential block for children and young people with disabilities.

Addingham Councillor Michael Kelly, the council’s executive member for services to children and young people, said: “Nell Bank is once again in the national spotlight for its wonderful and exciting outdoor facilities for our children and young people – well done to everyone involved!”

Centre manager Bruce Fowler said: “We are pleased that a Bradford education centre is one of the first organisations in the country to gain this Quality Badge after a rigorous assess-ment designed for residential provision.

“We had excellent feedback from Mr Thomas – an highly-informed source– and it means we again have national recognition of the wonderful outdoor learning features we have at this unique facility.”

Work has also begun on the new residential block which will feature under-floor heating, solar panels, large changing and washing areas, and a hydro-therapy bath.