Working with the Scottish Government to encourage people to be active as a legacy of Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
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The Legacy 2014 Physical Activity Fund was set up to help improve people’s health by encouraging those in Scotland who are least active to move more. Launched with £1.3 million from the Scottish Government, the project was part of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy plan. Spirit of 2012 was appointed to administer the fund on behalf of the Scottish Government. Physical inactivity is one of Scotland’s biggest public health problems, with approximately 1 in 5 people doing less than 30 mins moderate activity a week. Over twelve months, the fund supported eleven sports and leisure organisations to develop new approaches to tackling inactivity, whilst gathering lessons to help shape future good practice.
For some of the organisations awarded funding, Legacy 2014 represented a significant shift in their traditional ways of working. It focused on:
A programme wide evaluation was conducted by the University of Strathclyde.
Following the end of the grants, lessons from Legacy 2014 were used to create Thrive, an online training resource for organisations looking to design and evaluate sports and physical activity programmes for social outcomes. Spirit of 2012 funded an initial review of the Thrive Learning Programme, carried out by Arivo Consulting, to help improve it as a tool for workforce development within the sports sector. Thrive was further developed as part of the Changing Lives Through Sport and Physical Activity partnership, and as of 2025 consisted of online and accredited in-person training
| Project Name | Grantee | Grant Amount | Project Summary |
| Active Cairngorms | Cairngorms National Park Authority | £69,825 | Supported people to become more active through health walks piloting a referral system and progression activity pathways. |
| Active Communities Stirling | Active Stirling | £29,855 | Supported older people in disadvantaged communities to become more active. |
| Active Highland | NHS Highland | £70,000 | Supported teenage girls to become more active through a dance leadership project in schools, and older adults through walking groups. |
| Active Lives Edinburgh | Edinburgh Leisure | £70,000 | Supported those aged 45 and over, living in areas of multiple deprivation to become more active in Edinburgh. |
| Ageing Well / Transform | Midlothian Council | £69,453 | Provided active classes to older people and extend support to those in care homes. |
| Family Active | Leisure & Culture Dundee | £56,908 | Supported women to be more active during pregnancy through an existing referral programme across Dundee. |
| Get Active in Drumchapel | Drumchapel Sport – Community Sport Hub | £69,848 | Used sport to unite the community, encourage active, healthy lifestyles and develop individuals in Drumchapel, Glasgow. |
| Healthy Living Project | Changes East Lothian | £21,574 | Project supported adults with mental health conditions to take part in walking, cycling and other healthy living activities in East Lothian, Scotland. |
| Let’s Motivate | Dumfries & Galloway Council | £58,150 | A sustainable physical activity and movement training programme for staff and volunteers to work with older and vulnerable adults in care home settings. |
| Mind and Be Active (North Ayr) | North Ayrshire Leisure Ltd (KA Leisure) | £70,000 | Supported people in North Ayrshire with mental health issues to become and stay active through existing referral programme. |
| Mind and Be Active (Fife) | Fife Sports & Leisure Trust | £69,774 | Supported people with mental health issues and dementia in Fife to become more active using GP referral programmes and volunteers support network. |
The University of Strathclyde evaluation of Legacy 2014 recommended that:
1. There is a need to define intermediate steps in reaching the ultimate objective of getting everyone in Scotland to achieve the recommended levels of physical activity. The current dichotomy of ‘active’ and ‘inactive’ is unhelpful in encouraging those to undertake limited activity to get started to become active AND to those already engaged in some, moderate activity.
2. Develop a progressive model that nudges and supports inactive individuals toward more activity, and more independent activity – whatever their starting point.
3. More planning of resource requirements prior to project start: Physically inactive people are ‘hard to reach’. They are more likely to be socially isolated. They are unlikely to have connections with existing networks based on physical activity or to have links with locations where such activity takes place. Knowing their needs and aspirations is important.
4. Identify and work with individuals at their individually appropriate activity level, responding to the activities that interest and motivate them.
5. More research needs to be undertaken amongst those least active to identify the initial ways in which they might engage with projects and activities that are based on physical activity.
Since 2017 when this report was published, Sport Scotland as well as their counterparts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have developed their practice, funding and evidence collection in ways that reflect some of these recommendations.
Spirit of 2012 also continued to develop our own approach to physical activity funding based on the lessons of Legacy 2014. You can read more about this in Step Change: Working Together for a More Active Society.