HRH The Duke of Gloucester visited Redbridge Sports & Leisure Centre (RS&L) today (4 March 2009) to view the trust's plans for a new £3.75m sports hall.

The new facility will feature 12 badminton courts, three netball courts, a dance studio and a wellness suite. The centre has the support of the Badminton and Netball authorities and has been designated as a High Performance Centre by Badminton England. RS&L chief executive Ken Leggate said: "We are most grateful to His Royal Highness for his time and interest in this exciting scheme, which will meet the growing local, national and international demand for a modern hall which offers badminton and netball players the best possible playing, training and coaching environment.

"We pride ourselves on encouraging sustainable sports and leisure participation for all, and this development will enable us to maintain and increase that commitment." The centre, which is a pre-Games training camp for the 2012 Olympics, has launched a major fundraising appeal to raise a minimum of £2.5m towards the estimated costs of the new facility.