KEEPING THE SPIRIT ALIVE
This review presents highlights from the first two years of Spirit of 2012. It describes how we are keeping the spirit of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games alive by investing in projects which harness the energy of London 2012 and other events throughout the UK.
Spirit of 2012 was established by the Big Lottery Fund and endowed with National Lottery grant funds.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank our partners for the use of project photos for this report and for quotes included. Thank you to the International Olympic Committee for the use of photos used to highlight Olympic and Paralympic memories. Any unattributed quotes are taken from external evaluation reports, for which we thank InFocus Enterprises.
We believe that enabling people to participate in a wide range of activities and engaging in their communities will: • Improve wellbeing of individuals, communities and society as a whole • Improve perceptions towards disability and impairment • Lead to greater social cohesion and understanding Spirit of 2012 Impact Statement
FOREWORD When Peter Ainsworth invited me to lead in setting up Spirit of 2012 I had no hesitation in accepting. Thanks to the vision of the Big Lottery Fund we have a unique opportunity to keep the spirit that radiated across the UK in 2012 alive, and continually to rekindle it, through investment in art, sport, volunteering and heritage. During the summer of 2012, the Olympic flame melted the stoniest hearts among the British press and public. We saw how events can capture the public imagination and be transformative catalysts for community engagement and - by challenging limiting perceptions of disability – for social impact. Spirit’s strategy is built around iconic events: the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games; the 2015 Rugby World Cup; the 2016 Rio Olympic & Paralympic Games; 2017 Hull UK City of Culture and 2018, the centenary of women gaining the right to vote. We aim to inspire future generations, and empower them too, by supporting local projects linked to
these events, so that even those who never visited the stadium or the Cultural Olympiad can experience that 2012 spirit in their neighbourhoods. Since launching we have funded 36 projects, ranging from the gloriously joyful Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Big Big Sing to the pioneering Inclusive Futures youth sports leadership initiative. Furthermore, our commitment to sustained social legacy has been recognised by the Scottish Government, which has awarded us a grant of £800,000 to manage their Legacy 2014 Physical Activity Fund. These pages tell some of the stories our investment has generated. I hope that you find them as uplifting as I do.
Dugald Mackie Chair
2012
THE OLYMPIC & PARALYMPIC GAMES ‘Inspire a generation’ was the motto of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.
SPIRIT OF THE GAMES: SPORTING MEMORIES UNITING GENERATIONS
The phenomenal national response, which gathered momentum as the torch relay wound its way through cheering crowds the length and breadth of the country showed that aspiration was realised.
Sporting Memories Uniting Generations is one such innovative project, inspired by the London 2012 Games, but developed since. This groundbreaking initiative aims to enhance the mental and physical wellbeing of older people. It has connected generations of sports fans, bringing them together to capture and celebrate memories of the London 2012 Games as an innovative way to tackle loneliness, depression and dementia. Children and young people befriend older people to share and help record their memories of London 2012 and other iconic sporting moments.
True to our origins, Spirit is sustaining some of the great projects that were commissioned for, or inspired by, the London 2012 Games.
Claire (9), Shannon (10) and Syed (8) remember what most inspired them:
“I remember Usain Bolt winning on the track. He was racing ahead of all the others and winning by the final sprint. The crowd cheered so loud we had to turn our TV sound down!” “I remember the cycling. It was very exciting. I loved it. My favourite part was at the end when all the cyclists were all together.” “My favourite part was when Chris Hoy won two gold medals”.
Spirit of the Games is also reviving an older generation’s vivid memories of 65 years ago when the Games last came to London. “Truly a spectacle never to be forgotten which would live a long time through mind pictures for years afterwards…. Olympic records were set in an atmosphere which was friendly and happy from the first day to the last. The champions of five continents mingled and met on the field and they parted as brothers.” Diary of the 1948 Olympic Games in London, Peter McIntyre, Sporting Memories Foundation archive.
KEEPING THE SPIRIT ALIVE Excitement, achievement, friendliness, happiness and celebration radiated from the 2012 Games too. Now we are keeping this spirit alive, using the iconic national memory of the Games themselves, and some of the great legacy projects they inspired, to generate new momentum around other landmark events.
LONDON 2012-INSPIRED PROJECTS FUNDED BY SPIRIT: GET SET’S ROAD TO RIO LEAD YOUR GENERATION: INCLUSIVE FUTURES MY SPORT, MY VOICE NATIONAL PARALYMPIC DAY TEAM LONDON YOUNG AMBASSADORS UNLIMITED IMPACT
2014
SPIRIT OF GLASGOW The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games was the first big Spirit investment programme. Our funding of Volunteer Scotland, Glasgow UNESCO City of Music and Streetgames opened up the Games experience to thousands from all over the UK. Now Fourteen and our Legacy 2014 Physical Activity Fund partnership with the Scottish Government are bringing the benefits to many more. Our £5.3m Spirit of Glasgow investment is building a legacy of involvement, aspiration, inclusion and wellbeing across Scotland and beyond.
“Rugby 7s was phenomenal! I’ve never been a rugby fan but my perception is changed forever”
GLASGOW GAMES GO LOCAL 200 pop-up clubs took Glasgow’s Games to doorsteps around the UK. From the Highlands to Hastings and from Swansea to Southend, 12,414 children and young people got to try different Commonwealth Sports.
Trafford Housing Trust pop up clubs ran in the daytime and three evenings a week over eight weeks in summer 2014. Sessions started with team games, like rugby or dodgeball and introduced other Commonwealth sports like athletics, badminton, and table tennis. Two family fun day community events at Woodside and Old Trafford engaged 1,2762 children and young people in activities and had longer term social cohesion impact too. ‘Multi-cultural communities are coming together now. Sport in this area has broken down the barriers, especially at these venues’. Leon, Streetgames Project Manager, Trafford Housing Trust.
Closer to the Games action, Streetgames Camp Glasgow gave 521 children and young people the chance to watch world-beating sport, try outdoor adventure activities and meet stars, including Usain Bolt, and gave another 180 young Glaswegians tickets to their city’s Games.
CULTIVATING CREGGAN
OPEN CEREMONIES
Over the next three years Fourteen is giving local people in 14 communities across the UK the resources to enhance their community’s social cohesion and wellbeing through sport, arts and volunteering.
Hundreds of Opening and Closing Ceremonies performers couldn’t have taken part without Spirit’s support for their access needs, childcare, time off work or travel costs. Volunteer Scotland has since helped keep their passion for performing alive by connecting them with ongoing creative opportunities in Glasgow.
Creggan (in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland), aims to improve health and wellbeing by getting more people involved in community events and physical activity, tackling social isolation by connecting people together. “From the moment Creggan was chosen for Fourteen we knew we had the capacity to make a real impact on the lives of the people who live here. We have worked closely with the community, listened to their needs and supported them to develop projects which are helping to make a positive impact.” Seamas Heaney, Old Library Trust, Creggan This resourceful community is cultivating local waste ground to highlight the importance of growing your own, and running food festivals that promote healthy eating. Sports Clubs and events, including a ‘Creggan Olympics’, are encouraging people to get active, while seasonal highlights, like the Creggan Summer Scheme, Halloween Thriller and Haunted House, bring the community together to enjoy inclusive and fun activities with wellbeing and social inclusion at heart.
“Being part of one of the biggest spectacles in the world was absolutely amazing. It has opened up a whole new world to me and I am now actively engaged in roller derby” Ceara, Open Ceremonies Cast Member.
“I came away feeling lighter, and with a smile on my face. I feel like it was the first time I have really laughed for what feels like forever� Big Big Sing participant, Glasgow.
SPIRIT OF ACHIEVEMENT The London 2012 Paralympic Games was a lightbulb moment when the UK woke up to, and was dazzled by the determination, courage and inspiration of disabled athletes. Paralympism captured public attention as the nation thrilled to the achievements of Sarah Storey, Jonnie Peacock and Sophie Christiansen. Our aspiration to change perceptions of disabled people and unlock their potential is rooted in our 2012 Games heritage and we enjoy a close and valued partnership with the British Paralympic Association.
SPORTING ACHIEVEMENT In 2013, 2014 and 2015 Spirit supported the first ever National Paralympic Days in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with satellite events in other towns and cities.
“If you can’t stand up and kick a ball, and then you see Hannah Cockroft do her thing, your outlook is going to change. We must do what we can to promote that and celebrate it – it is absolutely invaluable”. Andy Barrow, Paralympian.
Even Paralympians may lack confidence off the field. My Sport, My Voice! empowers athletes with learning disabilities beyond the track and the pool to tell their inspiring stories to all kinds of audiences. The project has trained 13 ambassadors and 11 athlete representatives to act as role models for their sports and communities.
“I love being a My Sport, My Voice! Ambassador. Being a role model and a mentor is amazing, I’m glad that I’m helping to inspire people. I want to make people more aware about people with learning disabilities and that they can achieve, so that people look at someone’s ability, not their disability.” Joshua Walne Captain of England U21 (LD) Football Team.
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
CHANGE IS HAPPENING
“There is a real need for investment in creative projects that enable disabled and non-disabled people to participate together”. Susie Rodgers, Paralympian, Spirit Board Member and Spirit of Achievement Panel Chair
Early evaluation suggests that Spirit of Achievement projects are creating opportunities for disabled athletes, artists and participants to express the world as they see it, developing their own unique voices to challenge and change limiting perceptions
In early 2015, our first Spirit of Achievement Arts and Culture Challenge Fund attracted hundreds of applications. Four successful projects are now enabling thousands to participate and develop their talents in art forms ranging from circus skills to cinema.
“The cumulative effect of normalising disabilities within mainstream arts has a big impact on people’s behaviour and perceptions generally around disability, and shift it from a deficit into something that’s about achievement and potential.”
One is Beacon Hill Arts’ Viewfinder project, a talent development scheme in the North East, taking 75 disabled filmmakers from drawing board to Director’s Chair. Another is Making Routes, ensuring young disabled people are visible and valued within the cultural life of their city. The project works along the 345 bus route in South London, creating friendships and artistic collaborations with local communities. “We give young people different experiences to enjoy art and not just take part in art activities, to work creatively and collaboratively with one another and learn that your condition or circumstance does not limit your life’s potential.“ David, Volunteer Coordinator at Oasis Children’s Venture
Unlimited Impact
“We’re seeing individuals gaining in confidence and able to do things they didn’t previously think they could.” Inspired Action
“That was a real eye-opener for some parents to recognise that their young person has the ability and independence to do things without them.” Inclusive Futures
2015
SPIRIT OF RUGBY
TEAMWORK, RESPECT, ENJOYMENT, DISCIPLINE AND SPORTSMANSHIP.
Delivered by the Rugby Football Union, Spirit of Rugby seizes the momentum generated by two inspiring landmark events in the game’s history: the hugely successful 2015 Rugby World Cup and the introduction of Rugby 7s’ as an Olympic Sport at Rio 2016. Wheelchair Rugby is already one of the most thrillingly physical contests in the Paralympic Games. In fact rugby, a sport with its own core values, is ideally placed to join the values-focused Olympic family.
TEAMWORK RESPECT ENJOYMENT DISCIPLINE SPORTSMANSHIP
Spirit of Rugby springs from these values and what they mean to young people in 15 very diverse communities across England, ranging from Cumbria to Kent. The project is empowering 16-24 year olds, many with no previous knowledge of the game, by introducing them to rugby, its values and its potential to help them build youth-friendly, socially active communities. Excitingly, Spirit of Rugby is reaching parts of the community that are a million miles away from any stereotypical image of the traditional rugby heartland.
“It has been so rewarding, seeing mainly football mad kids having an introduction to rugby. Everyone enjoyed having a go at a new sport and learning about teamwork, which is vital to the project and the game of rugby itself” Callum Lighthouse Spirit of Rugby Volunteer, Birmingham
The Croydon Drop-In Centre Talk Bus goes into the most underserved housing estates to support vulnerable young people faced with higher than average levels of youth unemployment. There is little for young people to do, and gang culture is a real and often frightening presence in their lives. Talk Bus offers them much needed advice on drugs, health, employment and training. Alongside this service Spirit of Rugby volunteers are now delivering street rugby sessions to give the Talk Bus users a new and positive focus. Premiership Rugby Club Harlequins community coaching staff have got involved, and the project, which is all about empowering young people to help themselves, is now being shaped by four young people who are volunteering with the project in their own neighbourhoods. The Croydon young people are excited to be part of a national network with other Spirit of Rugby young volunteers across all 15 locations which came together at a residential planning weekend in Loughborough last June. New friendships were forged and ideas were shared and now each group is developing their own local project. These young pioneers are empowered to open avenues for young people of all interests and abilities, to play or volunteer in all forms of the sport, at the same time revitalising the culture and social networks of their community Rugby Clubs.
15 SPIRIT OF RUGBY LOCATIONS Birmingham Brighton Exeter Croydon Manchester Portsmouth Northamptonshire Loughborough Darlington Bristol Cumbria East Kent Liverpool Luton Thetford
ARTS & CULTURE Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, envisioned the world coming together for quadrennial sport events underpinned by values, education and culture. London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad was a globally acclaimed festival, which welcomed the world and showcased the best of British, engaging artists, audiences and the creative industries in performances and exhibitions the length and breadth of the UK. One of the most applauded was Unlimited, showcasing the work of disabled artists. In partnership with Shape and Arts Admin, Spirit is now helping to sustain Unlimited and to expand its scope, by supporting a spin-off initiative, Unlimited Impact. The project is working to support 50 young disabled artists to establish their careers. At the same time it is supporting arts venues from Thanet to Torbay and from Doncaster to Downpatrick to stage the work of these artists, and to engage with new audiences, including local disabled people, who have never before had opportunities to connect with the arts.
GROWING ARTISTS THROUGH UNLIMITED IMPACT Celf O Gwmpas, an innovative organisation committed to social inclusion in the arts, is based in rural Llandrindod Wells. Unlimited Impact is supporting them to run sessions with six disabled young people, providing them with studio space so that they’re able to build their learning, develop their own ideas and practice and progress to other opportunities, for example, formal training in art schools.
Jessie studies Writing, Directing and Performance at the University of York and receives a Disabled Students’ Allowance to support her. Unlimited Impact is providing Jessie with mentoring to help her focus on developing her scriptwriting, creative writing and spoken word skills.
Promising writer and Director, Hugh, is a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy. He is another young artist supported by Spirit funding. The 19 year old already has a substantial artistic body of achievement in his native Torbay and is currently part of the young ensemble creating a show called Grit that Unlimited Impact partner Doorstep Arts is helping to develop.
SHIFTING ATTITUDES ARC Stockton’s three year Cultural Shift project features 300 participatory sessions, annual theatre productions and residencies for disabled artists. It is run by Vici Wreford-Sinnott, who is delivering arts activities to catalyse changes in perceptions of disability. 45 Days to Find My Way is an arts participation project with disabled people exploring identity, portraiture in a range of art-forms and street performance. She recently directed a new play, the Puppetmeister, which saw participants developing an array of theatre skills, including mask work, physical theatre, improvisation, movement and dance, as well as having enormous fun. 2016 marks 400 years since the death of Shakespeare. Using this anniversary as the inspiration, we will grant £1m to an organisation with innovative plans to engage and empower young people through the verbal arts.
“I feel strong because I’ve done hard work. I play the white lady who is a ghost. I hold flowers in my hand and my lost love and the puppet master fight over me” Alyson Groat Performer, ARC Stockton
“Thank you for the chance to dance in such a way. I came home saying to myself, now that’s what I want to spend my days doing more of” Dancer, Unlimited Impact
SPIRIT OF LEARNING Spirit was set up to become a knowledge bank for how investment in social events legacy can achieve most impact. We embark on everything we do in a spirit of curiosity. As well as learning whether participants have enjoyed an experience or an event we want to know whether it changed anything for them, what made the difference, and how sparks of inspiration can best be sustained to increase wellbeing and social cohesion and improve perceptions of disability and impairment. We want to learn more about how participation in volunteering, sport, arts and social action can make people feel better, and develop skills and confidence that empower them and their communities. InFocus Enterprises leads the independent external evaluation team carrying out a three year, in depth investigation of Spirit’s overall programme.
The Process evaluation is looking at how grant partners view Spirit as a funder.
“They’re keen for the project to be driven from the beneficiaries which is really good for us. It’s nice to work with people who believe that and are actually listening to the people who benefit from the project, letting them almost drive the way, shape and feel of the project” “Their approach to evaluation is brilliant. If they can make it work it will be really meaningful and useful to the projects.” Spirit Partners, Year One Process Review, inFocus Enterprises, September 2015
The Formative element takes an ‘in flight’ view of how the projects we fund are doing against the outcomes they set out to achieve.
“Keeping the volunteering spirit alive is core for Spirit and projects have placed strong value on connecting local volunteering to the national picture to generate consistency and coherence”. “Sustained involvement with young people is more effective than token involvement. So it is best practice for projects to establish ways of keeping young people involved”. “One project went from initially only considering one domain of wellbeing (education and skills) to learning it is important to consider other aspects. Such learning can be attributed to Spirit’s emphasis on wellbeing as a core pillar” Year One Formative Review, inFocus Enterprises, September 2015
The final, Summative element takes a case study approach. At the end of the three year evaluation contract it will provide an overview of the impact of Spirit funding.
“Although positive outcomes flow from one off events, for longer term outcomes to be attained projects need to couple events with more regular, deeper touch activities, such as those of Inclusive Futures” “Evidence [from Unlimited Impact] shows that young people have someone to aspire for them and provide support, and this has led to them being involved in running activities.” Year 1 Summative Evaluation Case Studies, inFocus Enterprises, September 2015
To learn more about how we learn take a look at the Impact section of our website.
36 8
GRANTS AWARDED ACROSS RUGBY WORLD CUP SPIRIT OF 2012 LAUNCHES
12
2013
PROGRAMMES
Youth panel members
2015 2014 London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games
WHA
T WE’ VE ACH
.. D E IE V
.
GLASGOW COMMONWEALTH GAMES
14
15
Commonwealth Games legacy communities
276,969 AUDIENCE MEMBERS AT INSPIRING EVENTS
Rugby 2015 communities
7,455
Comic Relief youth group information packs distributed; over
90,000 young people fundraising for Red Nose Day
405,475 YOUNG PEOPLE ENGAGED
HULL UK CITY OF CULTURE
2017
2016
...W H AT ’ S N
EX T?
RIO OLYMPIC & PARALYMPIC GAMES
11
Legacy 2014 projects
2018
CENTENARY OF WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE
11 ,131 956 SOCIAL ACTION PROJECTS
VOLUNTEERS
2016
SPIRIT OF RIO As we move into 2016, and the Olympic Torch travels across the Atlantic from Athens to Rio, the world will finally turn the page on London’s 2012 Olympiad.
ON YOUR MARKS...
Did 2012 make a difference? In the run up to the Rio Games thousands of children and young people in hundreds of UK schools and communities will be connecting to the Olympic & Paralympic Games and their values through Spirit’s partnership with the British Olympic Foundation in the Get Set Road to Rio project.
The innovative Get Set’s Road to Rio app was launched by Lord Coe, with Olympic Gymnast Max Whitlock and Paralympic Sprinter Olivia Breen.
Get Set, which started life as the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic education programme, has been refreshed, digitised and diversified through a grant from Spirit.
The app motivates young people to get active and so to tackle one of the biggest health challenges of this generation in a fun and creative way. School or community groups can register to travel as a team the 5,761 miles between the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic stadiums. They can swim, walk, skip, jump, cycle or run their way there. It’s a cool way to inspire active lifestyles. We have made tackling physical inactivity the central focus of our Spirit of Rio programme and you can read more about that on the Physical Activity pages of this report. Within the same project the Get Set Values Awards and school resource packs promote the Olympic values of friendship, excellence and respect, and the Paralympic values of inspiration, courage, determination and equality. Get Set is proving that four years on from London 2012 the Olympic & Paralympic spirit still fires the imagination of children and young people throughout the UK.
CELEBRATING THE RIO 2016 PARALYMPIC GAMES A new partnership with the British Paralympic Association will help bring the excitement of events in Rio back home to the UK in 2016. A series of National Paralympic Festivals during the Paralympic Games in Rio will raise awareness of how more people can take part in inclusive sport, and build up support for the Paralympics GB Team as they compete in Brazil.
SPIRIT OF RIO PROJECTS: GET SET’S ROAD TO RIO GET OUT & GET ACTIVE NATIONAL PARALYMPIC FESTIVALS 2016 SPIRIT OF THE GAMES - SPORTING MEMORIES
“Since 2013 our National Paralympic Day partnership with Spirit of 2012 has enabled the BPA to deliver a powerful legacy from the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Spirit’s support has been vital in helping achieve the BPA vision “to inspire a better world for disabled people”. With Rio 2016 less than one year away I am delighted to sustain the relationship with Spirit in harnessing the unique power of Paralympic Sport to excite and engage people throughout the UK.” Tim Hollingsworth, CEO British Paralympic Association
“Becoming a Team London Ambassador gives us the opportunity to represent our school on a global platform. It has helped us to understand what volunteering means and the positive impact it has on people’s lives.” Arundeep, Student, Yeading Junior School, Hillingdon
SPIRIT OF VOLUNTEERING The volunteers were the superstars of the London 2012 Games – the Gamesmakers in their distinctive orange and purple strips, the soldiers who gave up their leave to help, and the countless thousands whose dedicated long term contribution to sport made the athletes’ achievements possible. Spirit aims to bring more people, especially young people, into volunteering and to raise the quality of volunteer training, management and recognition.
INSPIRING SOCIAL ACTION The Team London volunteering strategy is a centrepiece of the Greater London Authority 2012 legacy, and Spirit proudly supports their Young Ambassadors project. It’s never too early to be inspired into social action and Young Ambassadors encourages children as young as nine to get involved in their communities. Spirit has funded 645 Team London Young Ambassadors schools to get involved in making change resulting in 554 social action projects designed and delivered by the pupils themselves.
Over the past two years we have listened to what the sector and volunteers themselves feel about what they do and what would help them. Because they freely give their time and energy, it is important to pay attention to their wellbeing and development needs in return. That means ensuring they are well trained, well managed and well prepared for whatever they want to do next in their lives. Spirit has designed our own volunteering principles to ensure that projects we fund are of a high standard.
VOLUNTEERING SPIRIT WALES (YSBRYD GWIRFODDOLI CYMRU)
With ages ranging from 52-96 the group held many preconceptions about graffiti. The fascinating thing was the way these changed as the work took shape. The project challenged both their own perceptions of graffiti and others’ perceptions of visual impairment.. DD8 Music A group of young musicians in the Angus town of Kirriemuir banded together to tackle the lack of musical opportunities locally. DD8 Music was the result.
Welsh Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) is piloting a new approach to enhance event volunteering that benefits both volunteers and the events they support. Bilingual volunteer management software and a new, transferable accreditation in Event Volunteering are two innovative products in the pipeline.
VOLUNTEERING AND THE ARTS Volunteering takes many forms. Over half of adults take part in voluntary arts and crafts. Our grant to Voluntary Arts supports over 300 national and regional organisations. In 2015 Spirit sponsored two of the annual Voluntary Arts EPIC Awards, which went to projects from opposite corners of the UK, run by different generations and featuring different art forms. In Kentish Pilgrim Land The Blind Medway Art Group is producing groundbreaking work. On a visit to Rochester Cathedral they were struck by its heritage as a place of pilgrimage. Ancient graffiti is carved and painted throughout the Cathedral, and the group took this as the inspiration for their project.
Volunteers run regular free youth dropin sessions and organise music festivals and events. Alongside these they make their studio available to the community for rehearsing and recording, developing their own skills in the process. DD8 embraces a diverse repertoire ranging from band demos, through spoken word and poetry to bagpipes and film scores.
“Young people are reactive to what’s happening within their community… they want to go out and make the change, and our ethos is that we reach out and unleash their energies so they can change the world in which they live… once they are given a bit of support and resources they really can go on to make a huge difference.” UnLtd project member
2017
SPIRIT OF HULL On 1 January 2017 Hull will become the second ever UK City of Culture. The national and international spotlight will focus on this intriguing, culturally and historically rich city, encompassing wide health and economic inequalities, as it provides the setting for a year-long feast of art and culture.
“Our ambition is that 2017 will be transformational for the communities of Hull. Spirit’s early recognition of and support for the UK City of Culture project was crucial in helping us build momentum towards our exciting vision” Martin Green, Chief Executive and Director, Hull 2017
With Spirit backing, the Hull 2017 team has embarked on the extensive research and development required to deliver a 365-day cultural programme that will deliver a lasting benefit for local people.
“Spirit’s comprehensive Theory of Change has inspired us to use evaluation to set the foundations for the legacy of our time as UK City of Culture. This project has the potential to transform a different city every four years, and Hull’s learnings will undoubtedly help future cities to understand precisely the kind of lasting impact this status has on a place.” Phil Batty, Director of Marketing, Communities & Legacy, Hull 2017 and local entrepreneur
SHAPING UP TO VOLUNTEER With over a year to go, Spirit has already helped shape the plans for Hull’s 4,000-strong volunteer programme by funding the training and management of volunteers at Hull’s annual Freedom Festival in September 2015. This gave the City of
Culture team the chance not only to explore the implications of staging a large-scale cultural event but also create 130 trained and enthusiastic local volunteers who have developed and practised new skills in a festival environment.
In line with our ambition to empower young people, Spirit has also supported two Hull graduates to develop their careers within the City of Culture team.
“Thanks to Spirit of 2012, I have the opportunity develop my career to as part of the Hull UK City of Culture 2017 team that will transform my home city. Since beginning my internship in April 2015, I have expanded my knowledge and gained invaluable skills. I plan to continue to grow and develop, learning as much as I can from the exceptionally talented and experienced team.“
“Thanks to Spirit funding, I was able to join the City of Culture team and help set up the organisation as it exists now. I learnt so much from this, developing skills that I use in my new job and also as a member of Spirit’s Youth Advisory Panel.”
Emma Hepworth
Victoria Winterton
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY The London 2012 Games inspired our creation, and Spirit is committed to increasing participation in physical activity and sport. We are especially interested in finding out what works best to get people off the sofa and into fun, healthy and socially engaging activities. That is because physically active lifestyles can be the perfect route to the outcomes we want to see – wellbeing, social cohesion and improved perceptions of disability.
Our biggest challenge is to make sure that the investments we commit in this field add value to, and don’t cut across or duplicate, those of specialist sports agencies. To do that we place the emphasis firmly on the healthy, inclusive and sociable aspects of sport – making sure that people understand it is participation in activity we are most interested in, not individual sports, sporting skill or level of performance. One project helping us to do that is the ASDA Active Sports Leaders programme delivered by ukactive and partners. ASDA Active Sports Leaders is reaching out to networks of neighbourhoods around local stores across the UK to boost the amount of youth sports volunteering, and ensure that local communities directly benefit from the uplift in social action.
Over the first two years of the project trained young volunteers and ASDA staff together have put on 377 sports festivals in ASDA store neighbourhoods as well promoting the benefits of active lifestyles.
TACKLING INACTIVITY The one legacy outcome of hosting major sporting events that everyone expects to see is increased sports participation. Although our endowment is small in comparison with the amounts available to major funders and richer sports, Spirit is playing a part in bringing that about. In 2015, the Scottish Government approached Spirit after our involvement in the XX Glasgow Commonwealth Games legacy and invited us to work in partnership with them to increase physical activity levels in Scotland. They awarded us an £800,000 Legacy 2014 Physical Activity Fund grant to engage people classed as physically inactive – meaning those who are active for fewer than 30 minutes a week.
“The Legacy 2014 Physical Activity Fund is about helping people that are putting their health at risk by not exercising enough. We will fund projects that give people more confidence and knowledge to make important lifestyle changes” Jamie Hepburn, Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, Scottish Government
We have awarded 11 grants from the fund for projects ranging from mums and toddlers swimming groups to fitness classes for older people in residential care settings.
LEGACY 2014 LOCATIONS Cairngorms National Park: Dumfries & Galloway Dundee East Lothian Edinburgh Fife Glasgow Highlands Lothian Midlothian Stirling
GET OUT & GET ACTIVE Early in 2016 we will make our largest ever grant award of £4.5m to increase physical activity rates among the least active across the UK. We aim to create fun and inclusive opportunities for disabled and non-disabled people, their friends and families, to sample and continue to enjoy recreational physical activity together. Ultimately we hope to gather valuable learning from all the physical activity projects we fund that will inform future public, private and voluntary sector investment in this critical public health challenge.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the exercise and the company” “It lifts my mood, I’ve made new friends and I feel fitter and healthier. I have benefited physically, mentally and socially.” Participants, CHANGES Community Health project, East Lothian.
2018
SPIRIT OF WOMEN The 2018 centenary of women’s suffrage in the UK is a cultural and historical milestone. Spirit plans both to celebrate the courage and determination of those who fought for women’s democratic rights, and harness it as a catalyst to increase the wellbeing, voice and participation of women and girls. It is our ambition to challenge and help change limiting perceptions, including self-perceptions, of women and girls.
WOMEN OF THE WORLD The first Spirit of Women grant was awarded to the Southbank Centre to extend their Women of the World (WOW) festival to five new locations over three years, starting in the autumn of 2016. WOW is an engagement and awareness-raising festival which has been highly successful on its home turf for five years as well as in diverse locations across the world. Our grant will extend WOW to five new locations across the UK, starting in Bradford, and strengthen supporting resources around WOW events to include school packs, local training and a leadership academy among others. The Spirit-funded festivals will galvanise new communities and engage the women and men who live there in leadership development, reflection and discussion about what the centenary means to them and what they want to achieve in the future.
“We are delighted to receive this grant that will enable us to welcome more communities from across the UK to the Women of the World global festival network. WOW belongs to everyone and with the support from Spirit of 2012, new communities can establish WOW festivals where women’s stories can be shared, feelings vented, fun had and minds influenced to bring about change for a fairer society.” Jude Kelly CBE Artistic Director of Southbank Centre and founder and director of WOW
SPIRIT OF YOUTH We are helping deliver the pledge to inspire a generation. Spirit project partners inspire and enable children and young people to get involved in sport and physical activity, art and culture, volunteering and social action. We want to see them empowered to create and lead change in their communities.
VISION OF A MORE INCLUSIVE FUTURE Inclusive Futures (IF) is a UK-wide youth leadership project run by the Youth Sport Trust. 50% of IF participants are disabled and 50% non-disabled. That formula is powerful because the world is still far from inclusive – many young people in the project had never even met disabled people before. IF promotes access to, and equality in, sport and volunteering by creating a climate of understanding and respect for all abilities. It is opening young people’s eyes and inspiring a real sense of purpose in them.
“If it wasn’t for this programme I would be sitting on my phone, unaware, like everyone else”
INSPIRING SELF-BELIEF
Swansea college student Jacob lost his sight suddenly. With less than 5% vision, his career dream of joining the police was shattered. Inspired Action, run by the British Red Cross, secured him an administrative role at the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). With specially adapted software provided by Inspired Action, Jacob found he could do his job just fine, and won the respect of his colleagues. He has a new self-belief and confidence about his future. “I have been delighted to have him here. It has shown the staff what someone with disabilities is capable of”. RNIB Manager, Inspired Action
FUNNY BUSINESS Do it for Real - a partnership of Spirit, Comic Relief and UnLtd - is helping 11-30 year olds become social entrepreneurs. Using Red Nose Day and Sport Relief campaigns as its inspiration, Do it for Real helps transform fundraising projects into social enterprises. UnLtd, awards grants to young people to develop business skills and get their ideas off the ground. Somerset Rural Youth’s fundraising idea was a Red Nose themed disco with a double aim of raising funds and tackling rural isolation. “Nowhere to go, nothing to do, no transport are all problems young people in rural communities face. The disco attracted new people to the group and forged new friendships. They were really passionate about making the event work and proud of its success”. Sarah, Youth Worker, Somerset.
“Coming from a sports background as a professional and volunteer, being part of the Spirit of 2012 Youth Advisory Panel has shown me the breadth of youth engagement across the UK and the possibilities of making connections between so many areas of work.” Ella Ferguson, Spirit of 2012 Youth Advisory Panel
THE SPIRIT YOUTH ADVISORY PANEL The Spirit Youth Advisory Panel, chaired by Board member Carl Konadu, is a remarkably talented bunch. Their forthright insights and diverse perspectives inform and challenge, helping ensure that Spirit grants support the issues and activities that young people care about.
“The best part of being on the Spirit of 2012 Youth Advisory Panel is the respect and responsibility I have been given. From assessing million pound grant applications to meeting Paralympians, Spirit truly trusts me to represent them. I have a real voice.” Richard Glenholmes, Spirit of 2012 Youth Advisory Panel
WHAT NEXT? The London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games unlocked a generous, community-minded spirit that is still alive and still inspiring partners to collaborate to create a long-lasting events-inspired legacy for the whole of the UK. Curiosity about how Olympic & Paralympic inspired investment in the arts, sport and voluntary sectors can most effectively increase wellbeing and social cohesion and challenge perceptions of disability drives everything we do. As Spirit funded projects evolve we are committed to learning from them, for ourselves, for our grant partners and for other funders. The power of events to inspire people and spark positive energy is immense. Our job is to channel the energy into people’s daily lives, empowering them to become agents of change in their communities. Proud as we are of having helped inspire thousands during Glasgow’s 2014 Commonwealth Games, our biggest Spirit of Glasgow investment is in the three year Fourteen community project delivered by UKCF and Springboard.
As these pages show,we are keeping the spirit of 2012 alive by supporting social legacy initiatives around events in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Spirit of Women is already taking shape, and the recently announced Women of the World grant is the start of a five year programme of investment that will see Spirit joining with others to celebrate a century of women’s suffrage, and spark new, inspiring, enabling and empowering opportunities. The 2017 World and IPC Athletic Championships, the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic & Paralympic Games and the 2021 UK City of Culture all have potential to enhance social cohesion, increase participation and volunteering and unlock paths to wellbeing and empowerment. We are exploring ways of working with those events to bring about those impacts. Spirit was conceived out of London 2012, but we don’t live in the past. Our mission is to use the energy of current and future events to generate positive change today and for many tomorrows.
Debbie Lye Chief Executive
SPIRIT OF 2012 BOARD MEMBERS: Dugald Mackie
Jane Lady Gibson
Sir Harry Burns
Carl Konadu
Paul Cuttill OBE
Jan Paterson MBE
Linda Grant
Susie Rodgers
Efa Gruffudd Jones MBE
David Watters
John Gartside OBE
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Spirit of 2012 was established by the Big Lottery Fund and endowed with National Lottery grant funds.
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS:
Spirit of 2012 Document designed by:
Room 100, New Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA www.spiritof2012trust.org.uk @Spiritof2012
www.drewlondon.co.uk
Charity Number: 1155110