LEAVING A LASTING LEGACY FROM LONDON 2012 IN COMMUNITES THROUGHOUT THE UK OUR APPROACH AND VALUES THE BIG SING THE EXPERIENCE OF A YOUNG PRODUCER somewhereto_ rap and perform THE CULTURAL LEGACY OF LONDON 2012
The UK School Games is a unique opportunity for everyone to see how much young sporting talent we have in the UK. JASON GARDENER World Indoor Sprint Champion
LEAVING ALASTINGLEGACYFROM INCOMMUNITIESTHROUGHOUTTHE Legacy Trust UK is an independent charity that is creating a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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The UK School Games is the closest experience these youngsters are going to get to what it would be like to take part in major competitions such as the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics. DARREN CAMPBELL, Gold Medallist at the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games - 4x100m relay
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2012, it will be precisely 100 years since the first official commitment to presenting cultural and artistic activity alongside sport as a core dimension of the Olympic hosting process. This centenary provides a useful moment to reflect on what culture has brought to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In particular, the UK has attempted to overcome past challenges by supporting a cultural programme that makes the most of the build-up and aftermath of 27 days of world-class sport in 2012, so that the Olympiad are not only about constructing venues, but also constructing a lasting creative dialogue with communities throughout the country. This is the aim of the Legacy Trust.
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are a Principal Funder of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival, and we have 16 programmes with over 100 arts, sports and education projects currently taking place across the UK. From Stirling to Swansea and Belfast to Brighton, our projects are helping to build a lasting legacy from the Games in communities across the country.
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egacy Trust UK was set up in 2007 to support communities and organisations across the UK to create projects that celebrate London 2012 in a way that is relevant to them and which will leave a lasting legacy. We fund 16 programmes with over 100 arts, sports and education projects currently taking place across the UK.
Our projects are very wide-ranging, but all share three key aims: to unite culture, sport and education, in line with the values and vision of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to make a lasting difference beyond 2012 for all those involved to be grassroots projects, often small in scale, and unite communities of interest at local and regional level Legacy Trust UK has allocated £40 million funding through twelve regional and four national programmes. Our funding is provided by the Big Lottery Fund (£29 million), Department for Culture Media and Sport (£6 million for UK School Games) and Arts Council England (£5 million). Since 2008, our projects have gone from strength to strength, and have so far reached audiences of 4.5 million, directly engaged over 500,000 children and young people, worked with over 15,000 volunteers and created an economic impact of £35 million. The Trust is a Principal Funder of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival. All of our cultural projects have been part of the Cultural Olympiad and many have also been part of the London 2012 Festival.
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We want to give as many children as possible a platform to share their vision with the world and to showcase their creativity through the Tate Movie Project. JANE BURTON Tate Movie Project Director
These young people are our future aspiring athletes and potentially our future Olympians, and this event is an amazing opportunity for these young athletes to compete on a much bigger scale than some of them are used to. AMY WILLIAMS, Gold Medallist at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games – Skeleton Bob
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OURAPPROACHANDVALUES Our Mission
“to support a wide range of innovative cultural and sporting activities for all, which celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and to leave a lasting legacy in communities throughout the United Kingdom.” Our Approach We have a distinctive approach that is reflected by: our fully-independent status our mission: the legacy of the London 2012 Games our ‘no frontiers’ mentality: we cross the traditional boundaries between, for example, sport and the arts, to create genuinely joined-up initiatives our networks of funders and fully-representative Regional Advisory Groups, who ensure that our programmes reflect regional and local circumstances. Values We are committed to achieving UK wide coverage for our programmes, and to reaching diverse communities. These goals can only be achieved through partnerships and joint action, and through listening to, and learning from, the wide range of interested organisations and individuals throughout the country. We are fully committed to the following principles in our grant making, and we require all of our funded programmes to demonstrate how these principles are central to their approach: Promoting accessibility We believe that accessible services are those that people can use relatively easily and inexpensively, and that are sensitive to the different needs and cultures of the people using them. Promoting Inclusive Communities We value cultural diversity by recognising that people have different needs, beliefs, values and abilities and that those differences need to be both respected and promoted. We recognise that having a diverse public face can help us build trust and confidence among the varied communities we seek to fund. A diverse workforce can also provide a richer mix of ideas and talents. We also believe we are more efficient and effective when our decision-making structures are reflective of the diverse views of society.
Promoting Participation Our policies, processes and programmes must be developed on the basis of real need. This means that the people who will be affected by them should be involved in their development. We know that there are groups that are traditionally under-represented in consultation processes. We commit to working in partnership with those groups to establish structures that will help them to take a more active role in shaping the work that we do. In this way we will be able to encourage participation, openness and honesty. Promoting Equality of Opportunity We recognise that some groups commonly experience poorer access to employment, have fewer training opportunities and are under-represented in the workforce, particularly at senior level. In addition, we know that not all groups have the same access to services and their experiences of receiving services may be poorer. We believe that in order to level the playing field we may need to treat people differently to help them have the same chance to take part in employment and service opportunities. Reducing Disadvantage and Exclusion We will fund initiatives that deal with the causes of disadvantage and exclusion, and target our money on initiatives that promote inclusion of groups at greatest risk of being disadvantaged and excluded. Our understanding of what “disadvantaged” and “excluded” mean will take into account such factors as people’s experience of discrimination. Promoting Inclusive Communities We believe a cohesive community is one where people feel they belong, where their lives are appreciated and valued, people have similar life opportunities and strong and positive relationships develop between people who are from different backgrounds.
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WATERGATE BAY CORNWALL
On 21st June 2011 at Watergate Bay, Cornwall, over 300 participants and 400 attendees took part in The Big Sing. The Works and KEAP had worked together on a similar event in 2010 and wanted to expand this event for 2011, bringing in new elements of dance and beach workshops.
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even primary schools had each participated in two half-day dance workshops in advance of the main event. On the day, in dance, art, film-making and beach safety workshops and performed their pieces to each other. The evening saw nine choirs from across Cornwall, and one brass band, performing songs from their own repertoire to a delighted crowd and Cornwall Youth Dance Company performed two dance pieces specifically commissioned for The Big Sing. The evening culminated in a massed choir and audience singing of Nick Darke’s ‘The Lobster Song’ and Trelawney. All of the dance activity was very successful and the performances were enjoyed by the audience, and the experience of creating the dance and performing on the beach produced dance of a very high standard. This was the first time since 2004 that Watergate Bay Hotel had become involved in a non-profit, community event and it really helped them deliver on their corporate social responsibility agenda.
The event engaged with community with volunteers helping out on the day with stewarding, assisting in workshops and with the public collection.
It was a fantastic experience to make and perform in such an amazing place, it felt like the space was a part of the piece. There was a great atmosphere from the crowd Big Sing Participant
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Blaze is an ambitious youth-led culture and sport programme for Lancashire, Blackpool and the Fylde Coast, part of WE PLAY, a Legacy Trust UK funded initiative. Liam Roseden is one of many participants who have been involved in Blaze projects.
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iam is a member of the Fuse Youth Theatre Group in Nelson, Lancashire where he takes part in youth theatre and assists with sessions for younger children. In his spare time, Liam writes stories and scripts and has an interest in working in the creative arts. He’s just started studying for his GCSEs, and eventually wants to be the first member of his family to go to university. In summer 2010 Liam took part in The Big Game. This project saw Fuse work with artist Tom Russotti, who came over from New York as an artist in residence, supporting the group to develop a sports day themed piece of interactive performance. Members of the group were involved as ‘young producers’, interviewing and selecting the artist via a Skype video link, devising the piece, creating characters and costumes, and making decisions about venues, marketing and planning. Liam has also worked with Blaze as an ambassador, speaking about The Big Game at the Blaze launch event and representing Blaze at other events. Liam feels that Blaze is improving his understanding of careers and helping to develop the skills he will need in the future: “It’s giving us opportunities already – we had the interviewing, talking with the artists we were going to work with, discussing what we were going to do. So it has actually trained us for the business world out there already, because that’s what artists have to do every day.” Liam will continue working with Blaze between now and 2012.
...It has actually trained us for the business world out there already, because that’s what artists have to do every day. LIAM ROSEDEN Blaze Ambassador North West
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THEEXPERIENCEOFA
Blackpool, Lincolnshire
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We feel so positive because we never had anything like this, so it just feels like a massive step forward – thank you. CHARLIE, somewhereto_ participant
Charlie said of their experiences: ‘It was more than we had hoped for, it was unreal. Me and Mark have decided for definite that we are going over to the Arts Centre on a regular basis and maybe get a bit more involved in what’s going on. We feel so positive because we never had anything like this, so it just feels like a massive step forward – thank you.’
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omewhereto_ is a nationwide project to help young people find the space they need to do the things they love within sport, culture and the arts. Their aim is to help improve the lives of thousands of young people and create thousands of success stories, today and in the future. This is Mark and Charlie’s story. Mark met with regional coordinators Neil and Michele when they visited Sunderland College’s Usworth site. Mark wanted somewhereto_ rehearse his musical style of rapping along with his friend Charlie. As he lived in Washington in Sunderland, and prior contact had been made with the Arts Centre there, they were contacted to see if they would be interested in supporting Mark with his somewhereto_ passion. They were more than happy to accommodate, and Mark, together with Charlie, went to the Arts Centre for an introduction – they were so happy with the facilities that they decided to stay for the whole night and now attend weekly. Three weeks later Neil and Michele went back to meet with Mark and Charlie - they had recorded their first track! Their group name is Star Siblings. The duo performed in front of 500 people at NE Generation’s Urban Youth Games event earlier this August, and another young person currently working with somewhereto_, Joss, filmed the event (see ‘somewereto_ film’ case study).
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somewhereto_ rapandperform
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The impact of such interactions will be felt for years to come. LORD SEB COE
THECULTURALLEGACYOF
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hen historians look back at these Games, they will see the most extensive commitment to nationalise an event that is often considered city-based. This may have been the most important way in which London 2012 has contributed to keeping the Olympic movement ‘moving’, as claimed in its original bid vision for the Cultural Olympiad. The work has committed to developing a common vision that is informed by local populations and thus relevant to a specific community at a specific time, while connecting with the universal and timeless aspirations of a world class event embedded in a genuinely international network and over 120 years of history.
With the establishment of a Cultural Olympiad, there is an opportunity to expand the legacy of the Games and demonstrate that the Olympics and Paralympics have provided a platform for far more than just the advancement of elite sport or economic regeneration. In closing, it is salient to note that, in a time of cuts across all public sector departments within the UK, the long term legacy and contribution of art and culture to wider economic and social agendas cannot easily be overlooked or misunderstood. In part this is because understanding the broader cultural economy that underpins Britain’s brand as a world-class creative nation is considered beyond simple economic indicators. With this report, there can be no question that the Cultural Olympiad has provided a lasting platform for culture and arts programming while advancing complex crosssector and UK-wide collaborations.