The community is set to benefit from an Olympic-standard sports complex thanks to a £500,000 grant.

St Mary’s University College, in Twickenham, has been awarded the grant from Sport England’s Community Investment Fund to redevelop and extend its sports centre in time for the 2012 Olympics.

It is the final funding needed by the college to complete an £8m project to create a single state-of-the-art sports centre.

Professor Richard Fisher, head of St Mary’s 2012 preparations, said: “It has been a long process but now the final part of the funding is in place and St Mary’s world class reputation in sport will grow even stronger with this wonderful new centre.”

The project will see a new sports hall, a fully-equipped strength and conditioning suite and additional changing rooms, which will be linked to the existing games hall and 1960s sports block set to be refurbished as part of the project.

The new centre will be put to the test by South African olympians, who will use the site as the main base for their training, along with the Lensbury Club,Teddington, for the 2012 games.

However, it is also hoped the centre will increase participation in sport among young people in the borough. Better provision for disability sports will also be a feature of the project, organisers said.

Work is scheduled to finish by summer next year in time to welcome the South African Olympic squad for their first 2012 pre-games training camp and for St Mary’s University College to prepare for the new academic year.

St Mary’s principal, Dr Arthur Naylor, said: “The academic and sporting profile of St Mary’s has certainly justified a facility such as this and, together with the launch of the three centres and our Olympic plans, the university college is set for an even more exciting future.”