A number of leisure and sports facilities in London are to benefit from at least £10m of investment after being designated as 2012 Games-time training venues.

Schools, universities and leisure centres are among the facilities to be used by athletes during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics before being returned to community use in legacy mode. An initial 16 venues have signed up with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).

A further 12 - mainly football training facilities outside London - are due to commit by the end of the year, with LOCOG managing the project and the ODA funding the majority of capital works. According to organisers, the training venues are "unlike" the pre-Games training camps as they will be used immediately prior to the event for athletes' final preparations.

Redbridge Sports and Leisure Centre is one of the facilities that is set to benefit, offering training facilities for Olympic badminton, judo and wrestling, as well as Paralympic goalball. The ODA has confirmed funding towards the venue's new £6.4m badminton and netball centre, which also received £200,000 as part of the London mayor's PlaySport London Facilities Fund.

LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe said: "These are first-rate venues that will provide excellent training facilities for athletes getting ready for the biggest sporting competition in their careers. "Funding from the ODA has helped upgrade these facilities. This is a tangible benefit of the Games because these upgrades will be available for use afterwards, ensuring that local communities have access to the facilities as well."

London mayor Boris Johnson added: "[This] announcement puts some very important wheels in motion with a host of local venues across the capital being upgraded." Image (from left): Boris Johnson; Team GB badminton player Gail Emms; Sebastian Coe; and ODA chair John Armitt – Andrew Baker