Medway is celebrating a national sporting success after being chosen to host the 35th annual British Transplant Games.

Thousands of athletes, supporters, volunteers and spectators will flock to Medway for the annual sporting celebration for transplant recipients in 2012.

The event will take place immediately after the Olympic Games and before the Paralympics.

The British Transplant Games is organised by the charity Transplant Sport UK to raise awareness of organ donation and encourage people with potentially fatal conditions to live life to the full.

The four-day competition is open to transplant athletes of all ages from across the UK and includes athletics, badminton and swimming to cycling, golf and table tennis.

The action will centre on Medway Park, the £11 million centre of sporting excellence being created on the site of the Black Lion leisure centre in Gillingham. Events will also be held at other indoor and outdoor venues across Medway, with Rochester Castle Gardens providing the setting for the opening ceremony.

~Listen: Lynne Holt, for Transplant Sport UK, tells why the games are important for Medway - and a fantastic opportunity for some outstanding athletes >>>

Lynne Holt, trustee for Transplant Sport UK, said: “We are delighted to announce that Medway will play host to the 2012 British Transplant Games.

“This is the first time we have held the Games in this part of the country. We hope that the businesses and people of Medway will embrace and support the Games, which raise awareness of the need for more organ donors, thus helping to save the thousands of lives of those people still desperately waiting for transplants in Kent and throughout the UK.”

News that Medway has secured the 2012 Games follows Medway’s successful bid to host the Modern Pentathlon World Cup at Medway Park in April 2010.

Medway Council’s portfolio holder for community services, Cllr Howard Doe, said: “We are delighted that Medway has been chosen to host this wonderful event and fully support the aims of Transplant Sport UK in demonstrating the benefits of transplantation and raising the awareness of the need for people to sign onto the NHS Organ Donor Register.

“It is a further endorsement of our ambition to establish Medway as a sporting city and we look forward to welcoming the athletes and their supporters, and showcasing everything Medway has to offer.”

Previous host cities for the British Transplant Games have included Coventry, Sheffield and Edinburgh.