BADMINTON England were today celebrating a new venture which will see them partnered with every Premier League football club in encouragingyoungsters between the ages of 11 and 16 to play badminton. The scheme is supported by the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England. Pictures: PRESS ASSOCIATION

Have you been inspired by the 2008 Beijing Games? If you have a passion for badminton and would like to get more involved, especially in the lead up to the 2012 Games, then an exciting new funding opportunity, aimed specifically at Londoners, could be for you.

BADMINTON England today took a major step towards raising the profile of the sport in this country by naming 2004 Olympic silver medallist and 2006 World and Commonwealth mixed doubles champion Gail Emms as their first Badminton Ambassador.

THE New Year has got off to a great start as BADMINTON England today announces a new, long-term strategic partnership following the agreement signed with SportFocus to provide a range of new and exciting software solutions capable of making a significant difference to the sport.

BADMINTON England today took a giant step towards delivering its promise to develop the game at club level like never before after receiving a Sport England award of £20.8m spread over the next four years.

Badminton has been awarded £8.6million for the London 2012 Olympics in UK Sport's Elite Funding Programme for the next four years.