Badminton School’s Official Sports Centre Opening

Badminton School officially opened their new Sports Centre on Wednesday, 27th March with Distinguished Guest Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE DL opening the building at the ceremony.

Badminton School took ownership of their new Sports Centre in September 2018. With pupils’ education and welfare always uppermost, the Sports Centre has been the top development priority for Governors and the Senior Leadership Team for several years and, with an estimated cost of just over £4m, it is the most expensive development in Badminton’s history. National sports facility specialists, Collinson, were appointed to design and build the new state-of-the-art facility.

The Sport England compliant flexible Sports Centre comprises of a four-court space for Badminton, Basketball, Netball, Trampolining, Hockey and Circuits. Additionally, it has a fully equipped Fitness Suite, an Indoor Climbing Wall, Fencing Piste, club-style changing rooms, and Viewing Galleries, both external and internal. It also boosts a Sports Therapy Room for physiotherapy and sports assessments, keeping the girls and the community well.

Badminton has strong partnerships with local and national sporting organisations (including Westbury Harriers, Redland Green Tennis, Redland Hockey Club, Soccer Shooters, St Ursula’s Badminton Club, Bristol Flyers Basketball Club, Cavaliers Fencing Club and Bristol Sports Foundation supporting Bristol Rockets Netball Academy), which extends their Outreach in the wider community whilst supporting the girls with high quality coaching and sporting knowledge. More than 1000 children every week from outside the school have used its facilities since it opened in September last year, with the school partnering with local clubs and organisations.

“It’s wonderful to be part of such an amazing celebration and to be around so many incredible young woman,” said Baroness Grey-Thompson, who won 11 gold medals, four silvers and one bronze between the Seoul Paralympics in 1988 and Athens 2004, and is now an independent cross-bench peer in the House of Lords and chancellor of Northumbria University.

She added: “To have a community use for this new sport centre is amazing. Sport has the power to bring people together and inspire.

“Aim high. Please keep doing that. Find something you love doing and work hard.”

The Sports Centre has transformed Badminton’s ability to offer every pupil the opportunity to participate and excel in Sports, and thrive personally, academically and socially. It will also unlock the campus and enable other Departments to expand and thrive over the coming years.