Belong: Power Of Events
A report from Belong on the findings from the Spirit of 2012 archive about the impact of events on social cohesion and connection
Legacy Learning Partnerships
Spirit of 2012 appointed three organisations to serve as its learning partners, working together to integrate and build on its evidence base during its final phase before closure
Project information
£175,000
Total Spirit grant
February 2023 – August 2025
Project duration
Loughborough University, Belong Network, Pro Bono Economics
Grantee organisations
In 2024, Spirit of 2012 appointed three organisations to serve as its learning partners, working together to integrate and build on its evidence base during its final phase before closure; three partners who strongly aligned with Spirit’s purpose and impact areas with which to share the learning and insights they have gathered over ten years.
These three partner organisations will use this evidence alongside their own, create new content and eventually integrate and assume ownership of it once Spirit has closed. From there, it will be over to them to build on and continue the work.
Loughborough University
Building on evidence and a genuinely inclusive ethos championed by Spirit of 2012, Loughborough will create a digital learning resource for early years and primary education settings. They will use a digital storytelling approach to disrupt assumptions about sport and disability, aiming to instil from an early age, positive perceptions activity, sport, and people of all abilities.
Their team is made up of experts from across the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences and the School of Design and Creative Arts at Loughborough University, who are passionate about centring contributor’s voices and stories in translational research.
Belong – The Cohesion & Integration Network
In partnership with Spirit of 2012, Belong will create and disseminate a best practice guide for designing, delivering and evaluating events to positively impact on social connection and cohesion. The resource will be available online and suitable for those using the arts, culture, sport and physical activity and volunteering as a means to celebrate, unite, and sustain communities coming together for a shared purpose. Potential users include those organising an event in their local neighbourhood, or strategic leads developing events at a regional and national level.
Pro Bono Economics
PBE will apply a cost-effectiveness methodology to calculate the wellbeing value of Spirit’s investment. As well as helping to draw out the ‘golden thread’ that links effective wellbeing projects together, they will support funders and policy makers to use these approaches to understand the wellbeing impacts of project funding.