Sally Gunnell to open Phoenix Academy and Sports & Leisure Centre

The athlete won gold in the 400m hurdles at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic and remains the only female British athlete to have won Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles.

The Phoenix Academy opened to pupils last year as part of Telford & Wrekin Council’s £200m Building Schools for the Future programme, which will see every secondary school in the borough either rebuilt or remodelled.

It caters for more than 600 pupils, houses the new Dawley Library, a fully equipped theatre, dance studio, aspirations fitness centre, sports hall and a national BMX track.

The project benefited from £1.2m funding from Sports England, which linked to priority sports including rugby league, netball, BMX and table tennis.

A special community open day will take place tomorrow between 10am and 1.30pm. The event will showcase the sporting facilities on offer at the Phoenix Sports Centre and will see various local sports clubs like the Telford Raiders Rugby Club and the Telford Netball Club demonstrating their sports in a bid to recruit more members. The showcase will also include a demonstration from Cheer Force 10, one of the top cheerleading groups in the country.

Councilor Paul Watling, cabinet member for Children, Young People and Families, said: “We are delighted to have Sally Gunnell as our special guest for the official grand opening of the Phoenix Academy and Sports and Leisure Centre – it should be a fantastic day to mark a great new facility.”

Councilor Liz Clare, cabinet member for Leisure Services and Culture, said: “We thought it was a great opportunity to showcase the leisure facilities at the Phoenix and hopefully sign up more members so we decided that it would be a good idea to hold a community open day.

“We are looking forward to a really fun day which will demonstrate the superb facilities that we now have in the heart of Dawley.”