Sport England’s National Sport Centre at Bisham Abbey has benefitted from a £7m facelift of its facilities.

Funded by Sport England National Lottery funding, the improvements include a new workout class studio, the upgrading of the existing grass football pitches and the installation of two new full-size pitches – a Desso natural grass pitch (an exact replica of Wembley’s playing surface) and a 3G artificial pitch which will be available to community users.

The centre's accommodation capacity has also been increased with the addition of 50 new double and twin bedrooms, while a new restaurant has also been added.

The centre will be used by both Team GB athletes as well as the local community.

Sport England director of property, Charles Johnston, said: “The newly refurbished facilities at Bisham Abbey reaffirm Sport England’s commitment to community and elite sport.

“The improved facilities will give our top athletes the very best chance in competition, whilst giving the local community the opportunity to use world class facilities.”

Helen Grant MP, minister for sport, added: “Bisham Abbey is an iconic venue in British sport. Its facilities have helped many of our elite athletes to prepare and train before representing their country in major sporting competitions.

“This impressive redevelopment project, funded by Sport England National Lottery money, will continue to make sure our athletes remain in the best possible condition to be successful. I’m also really pleased to see that it will offer excellent sporting facilities to be used by the community.”

Background:

• Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre provides “world-class” training facilities to a wide range of national governing bodies, and hosts the English Institute of Sport’s high performance centre where top athletes can access sport science, medical and technological support to improve performances on the world stage.

• The centre is managed by government services giant Serco