Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has launched a sports foundation carrying his name in the constituency he represented as a member of parliament for 24 years.

The Blair Foundation will focus on nurturing talent in schools and will be based at his home in his former Sedgefield constituency in County Durham.

According to Blair the foundation will invest in local people, inspiring them to “make the most of themselves through sport”.

In the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games, the foundation aims to increase participation in sport by inspiring more adults to become trained coaches and to provide access to high quality nationally-accredited training.

It will also seek to help match the coaches it trains with schools and sports clubs which need them.

Speaking at the launch of the foundation, Tony Blair said: "The North East gave me the opportunity to get on and make a contribution to our country. I want to continue to repay that confidence by giving kids the chance to be inspired by competitive sport."

One of the first initiatives of the foundation is to support a Tony Blair Tennis Competition for schools.

The competition, backed by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), will be an annual event aiming to support grass root sport in the North East.

Tony Blair announced the launch of his foundation as he visited the region to open the newly refurbished Lifestyle Fitness health club at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre in County Durham.

A £2.5m investment project on the site included the addition of a three-storey gym facility, which boasts 169 exercise stations supplied by Life Fitness.

The centre is one of four owned by Sedgefield Borough Council, the others being located in Spennymoor, Ferryhill and Shildon-Sunnydale.