Welcome

Ideally located just a short journey from the main Olympic Village in Stratford, Colchester contains all of the ingredients required to make any training or preparation camp successful - including great sports facilities, superb accommodation and a wide range of supporting services all located within easy reach of each other.

It is not just the facilities that make Colchester so special though - it's also the partners involved.

The University of Essex, located in Colchester, is one of the UK's leading campus based universities and has a thriving sports science community. It also provides experience of welcoming international visitors from around the world, with its large, multi-national student population.

Colchester contains one of the largest garrisons in the UK, accommodating over 3500 soldiers and civilian staff. There are a number of important services and facilities that can be gained by working in partnership with the Army - something which has influenced Team GB's decision to use fellow garrison town Aldershot as their London 2012 training base.

Both the University and the Garrison have joined Colchester Borough Council, Essex Police, the Primary Care Trust and representatives of local businesses on the Colchester Partnership for London 2012 - a group set up in 2006 to ensure that Colchester maintains a joined-up, co-ordinated approach to the Games that will help the town to achieve a legacy for years to come.

This partnership approach ensures that teams who chose Colchester for a training camp will benefit from a wide range of different facilities and services provided through various organisations in Colchester, that are co-ordinated through one single point of contact - leaving coaches with more time to concentrate on their athletes.

For a quick, printable summary of what Colchester has to offer, click here.