Jubilee Sports Hall opened at RAF Shawbury
A new physical recreation training centre has been officially opened by HRH Prince Michael of Kent GCVO at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire.
Gp Capt Luck (L) with HRH Prince Michael and Alison Williamson in the new sports hall [Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]
Built by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), in collaboration with their industry partner Carillion, the building is designed to provide up-to-date physical training facilities for personnel serving at the base.
After the official opening, HRH Prince Michael went on to meet with Physical Education staff, before witnessing the first event to take place in the new hall, the firing of an arrow by Olympic archer Alison Williamson. He also handed out medals and awards to station personnel including Operational Service Medals for Afghanistan.
The facility, named Jubilee Hall Sports and Fitness Centre, is based outside of the main camp and spare capacity may be available to public organisations in the future under the management of a Defence licence.
Commenting on the new facilities, Station Commander Group Captain Chris Luck said:
It was a great privilege to have the building officially opened by His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent on 24 April 2012, in what is fittingly a Royal Jubilee and Olympic year. Our Service members and families now have the state-of-the-art sports centre within which to improve their fitness, resilience and robustness in preparation for their military commitments.
DIO Senior Project Manager Ken Withers said:
It has been a pleasure to be involved with this superb project. The DIO and Carillion team have worked together to deliver a top class facility to meet the needs of the Station personnel. The project was delivered on time and to a high quality.
RAF Shawbury is home to 400 personnel and up to 300 trainees at any time. Its core responsibilities include the training of helicopter pilots and crew from all three services carried out at the Defence Helicopter Flying School.