Spirit of 2012

January 2025 marks the beginning of our last year of operations. Spirit of 2012 will close by the end of January 2026. If you haven't taken advantage of our knowledge bank or the opportunity to work with us yet, there's still time - just! See what you can do in our latest blog. https://lnkd.in/dAZwXZkk

An important part of #FridaysFromTheArchive is spotlighting the people that have made Spirit what it is as well as projects and publications. One such group of people is our Board and Patrons who we aim to highlight individually as the weeks go on. Today, we highlight a Spirit Board Member turned Patron - 6-time Paralympic medallist Susannah Rodgers MBE PLY. Susie joined Spirit’s Board in 2014 following a glittering career in para-swimming which included three Bronze medals in the London 2012 Games, she would go on to win three more medals – two Bronze and one Gold – four years later at the Paralympic Games in Rio De Janeiro. She said of being part of the Board: “The London 2012 Games were such a pivotal moment for me personally through my medal-winning moments and the experiences I had with the team she said of being part of the Board.  Spirit’s mission to use those Games and other similar events as catalysts for wellbeing and social connection is one that still resonates with me and adds an even deeper meaning to taking part as an athlete. It has also increased my own knowledge and understanding of legacy and what works to ensure that events can support wider social and wellbeing agendas.” As part of the Board and in her own life, she has worked tirelessly in support of disability inclusion and to remove barriers to participation for disabled people in all areas of life, including serving as a Technical Adviser on Disability Inclusion to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Last year, we went with her back to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, near the Aquatic Centre where she won her medals in 2012 and where she still swims twice a week. During our interview, she spoke passionately about ability of events to spark lasting change and increased participation, as well as the urgency to follow up with real action. “I think an event in and of itself is a great thing, but I don’t think it ever provides the full answers. But there is opportunity there and through organisations like Spirit there is an opportunity to take the knowledge and learning [from events] and use that to transform societies.” Susie also names her favourite Spirit projects, including Activity Alliance’s Get Out Get Active and Laureus' City To Sea, discusses the enduring legacy of the 2012 Paralympics, comments on whether the time is ripe for another Games in the UK and more in the full interview available on our YouTube. https://lnkd.in/eF6A8r_r

This was a great event (with good cake!) Really interesting to think about connection to City of Culture - and this been a good moment to think opportunities to maximise long term impact. Loved both Robert Pritchard emphasis on us all needing/deserving beauty and Darren Henley's description of Arts Council England role as "taking lottery players' money and investing in making people happier" - given that for past 8 years I've worked for an organisation with the tagline #InvestingInHappiness (and attempted to measure it) that is a message I can get behind. Great speeches from both Chiedu Okara and Young Mayor Eunice Jogunosinmi who shone a spotlight on role of the cultural & community orgs in Hull that nurture young talent - with Chiedu Okara also emphasising need for ££ and infrastructure to support artists if the cultural ecosystem is to thrive. Great to see the VHEY volunteers out in force as well.

Just over a week to tender for this research contract looking at the link between events and national pride and how it varies in different areas and among different groups. Up to £40,000 available - deadline 9am Friday 7th March. Details below.

As we look forward to Glasgow hosting the Commonwealth Games again in 2026, by which time, sadly, Spirit will be closed, we’ve been reflecting on our first funding programme around the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. When the The National Lottery Community Fund endowed Spirit with £47m in 2013, one of their challenges to the nascent organisation was to fund legacy work around the upcoming Glasgow Games. The official legacy planning in the Organising Committee was well underway and funded by the time we came on the scene. We knew, however, that one of the ways our funding could have an impact was to extend beyond Glasgow and Scotland being a UK-wide funder gave us the opportunity to do just that. We were approached by StreetGames UK to support a project which was based on an earlier project during London 2012 (not funded by Spirit). They had secured a significant number of tickets to the Games and wanted to take young people from across the UK to Glasgow to experience the event and take part in outdoor leadership and development activities. Streetgames has a UK wide presence in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the UK and we knew that they would reach young people that were the furthest from being able to participate as spectators on the Games and would benefit the most from physical activity interventions. This was the first of our “Spirit of Glasgow” grants. The aims of the project were to: 🏸 Give 1,000 disadvantaged young people all over the UK the amazing experience of watching events at the Commonwealth Games, coupled with a residential stay that would also incorporate an outward bound experience. 🎯 Deliver 200 Commonwealth Games Pop Up Clubs in disadvantaged areas across the UK to inspire and reinforce participation in sport by between 5,000 and 10,000 disadvantaged young people. 🥊 Create a legacy of youth volunteering in sport with over 150 disadvantaged young people being supported to volunteer in the delivery of the Commonwealth Games visit and residential and the Commonwealth Games Pop Up Clubs. The project was completed successfully, however one of the critical bits of learning was that the aspirational number of 1,000 young people at “Camp Glasgow” wasn’t going to deliver the depth of engagement they wanted and during the planning it became clear that this impact could only be achieved if a smaller number of young people stayed for longer. Over 60% of the young people had never been to a major event before, see below for some of their postcard comments. #FridaysFromTheArchive

An exciting year ahead for Bradford! 💛

Events have the power to help people feel more connected to each and their communities. But how can we use the legacy from events to achieve this more consistently? Before starting their important work on the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion, our learning partner Belong-The Cohesion and Integration Network did a synthesis of evidence from twenty-eight of Spirit's funded projects which led to events that built on social cohesion. The Commission itself will accept submissions for evidence until March 28th - head to https://lnkd.in/ewTdcucG for details.

Important conversations take place on British Council's #OurWorldConnectedPodcast and we are excited to see our Board Member and PII Committee Chair Bill Morris LVO DL MSc Oxon get to speak on the soft power of major events like London 2012. The Opening Ceremony of London 2012 was steeped in culture and heritage but contained an important message about London's openness to people to visit, trade, learn and communicate with from around the world. Listen to more of his insights at the link below and on all major podcast platforms.

“If music be the food of love…” This Valentine’s Day edition of #FridaysFromTheArchive looks at “Music & Wellbeing” our report looking at the insights from the 17 participatory music-making projects we have funded, which was released one year ago today. We’ve invested £3.2m in music projects, engaging 2,255 in regular activities, and over a million in taster sessions or performances. We did so because we believed in the power of music programmes to transform wellbeing for the participants. This has been backed up in the evidence, from older people to younger, carers to patients, and everyone in between. Take the Carer’s Music Fund for instance which saw the average wellbeing scores of beneficiaries across cohorts had improved for each of the four ONS personal wellbeing measures: life satisfaction, sense of worthwhile, happiness and anxiety. 91% of those who reported the highest levels of anxiety and 79% who reported medium levels of anxiety saw their anxiety levels reduce over the course of 12 sessions in the programme. Nancy Hey - at the time the Executive Director of the What Works Centre for Wellbeing - who did a systematic review of the relationship between wellbeing and music, said of the Carer’s Music Fund said of it: “Making music with others can improve wellbeing and tackle loneliness through a number of different pathways designed into these projects. From building connections to improving confidence and skills, giving carers a voice, and busting stereotypes – there wasn’t a single route to wellbeing, but a number of different journeys.” While much is made of the wellbeing effects of these projects, some had other positive effects such as Creative Arts East’s Our Day Out which dramatically increased social connectedness for people living with dementia – 94% of participants felt their involvement in the Our Day Out programme has helped them make social connections according to a survey. MORE MUSIC's Music For Health helped to start an important conversation around the effectiveness of social prescribing in their local community and helped music leaders establish important relationships with local healthcare provision. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many of these projects were forced to change their approach, adapting in order to provide a lifeline to their programme participants. Noise Solution - the team behind Beat Syndicate project said at the time. “We learned just how robust our digital infrastructure is, how adaptable our musicians and staff are, how needed our services are, and just how important they are to participants.” The report contains so many stories, insights and advice and you can see some of the emotional music that was produced too – all at the link below. https://lnkd.in/ePXESbbY

Increased national pride and togetherness are often expected and assumed to be outcomes of events. We are seeking a research partner to strengthen our understanding of how and why this happens, exploring how the relationship between events and national pride varies for different groups and across different parts of the UK. More details below.