Investing In Happiness

Spirit of 2012 is the London 2012 social legacy organisation founded by the National Lottery Community Fund with an endowment of £47m. We will close, as planned, in January 2026. Read our final report to find out how we’ve carried the joy, pride and optimism of the London 2012 Games into events and activities across the UK.

Our Story

Project Detail

Our history

Since 2013, we have funded projects and commissioned research that harnesses the power of events – large and small – to make a positive impact for people and their communities as part of the enduring legacy of the London 2012 Games. Spirit of 2012 has played a key role in the design and delivery of long-term social impact for events across the UK from Cities of Culture to Great Get Togethers and local festivals and commemorations. The projects we funded have enabled more than 3.6 million people across the UK to take part in activities to make them more active, creative and connected and created more than 60,000 volunteering opportunities.

About Us

Explore our Knowledge Bank

In just a few clicks, you can explore reports, resources and blogs from Spirit and our partners with this easy-to-use database search.

Explore our Knowledge Bank

Getting Started

Not sure where to begin? Each Starter Pack distils Spirit’s most relevant insights into a handful of must-read resources—your expert-curated first step into the wider archive.

Improving Event Evaluation 

Spirit of 2012 has been instrumental in shaping how major UK events from the Commonwealth Games to Cities of Culture understand, articulate, and measure their impact.

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Creating Long-term Event Legacies  

While events have the potential to generate lasting social and economic impact, this isn’t automatic. It depends on host cities and organisers having a shared vision for long-term outcomes—and the commitment, planning, and resources to see it through.

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Developing Events Strategies

By looking at specific examples from around the UK, this will help events organisers seeking to create a tailored strategy which will use events to bring benefits to a host city or region.

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What we do

Explore highlights from the past decade-plus of our work, including our funded projects, legacy learning partnerships, and our policy and impact work to develop and strengthen the events ecosystem through reports like our Inquiry into the Power of Events and Creating the Golden Thread.

Legacy Learning Partners

To ensure that our decade of learning and evidence can continue to inspire meaningful change after Spirit has ended, we partnered with three organisations to carry forward our insights and learning.

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Policy and Research

Spirit of 2012 hasn’t just funded impactful events, we’ve developed an evidence bank about how policy makers and event organisers can use events to achieve social impact.

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Latest news and blogs

A response to DCMS’ commitment on women’s sporting events

We warmly welcome DCMS’s commitment to harnessing the power of major women’s sporting events to drive greater gender equality and participation in sport, committing to deliver equal access, better facilities and protect female athletes from online abuse. This approach could not be more timely. Following an extraordinary summer of women’s sport — from the Lionesses’…

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New Blueprint from Spirit of 2012 and the British Olympic Foundation launched to help organisations inspire young people through major events

With six months to go until the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Spirit of 2012 is proud to launch a new resource for organisations planning education programmes around major events. Developed by Hark and the British Olympic Foundation, and funded by Spirit of 2012, the new publication — A Blueprint For Driving Effective…

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