New £10m sports medicine centre for Sheffield

Sheffield has been given £10m to help create the UK's first sports medicine centre to promote exercise and fitness.

The city, along with Loughborough and London, will host one of three hubs which will form the National Sports and Exercise Medicine Centre of Excellence.

The hubs will promote exercise and fitness and treat injuries caused by exercise and conditions caused by lack of exercise.

The Sheffield hub will be run by the city's two universities and the NHS.

The government is funding the £30m project as part of its Olympic legacy commitments.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Hosting the Olympics is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Britain and it provides a great opportunity for the NHS too.

"The centre will share research findings and best practice with the entire NHS so the whole country benefits."

Sir Andrew Cash, chief executive of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The focus of the Sheffield arm of the three Olympic legacy centres of excellence is centred on the promotion of physical activity and improvement of the health and productivity of the people of Sheffield.

"The city is well placed to ensure this project is successful.

"Sheffield has world-class sport and medical facilities complemented by world-class research and educational programmes in the city's two universities."