Capital of Sport
Read more about our plan to establish a UK Capital of Sport.
Inquiry into the Power of Events
How can events help build connected, happy, and thriving communities?
Spirit of 2012 was established to continue the pride and positivity that many people felt following the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In 2023, Spirit of 2012 published the findings of an 18-month long Inquiry into the role which events play in building happy, connected, and thriving communities.
Over 12 months, the Inquiry listened to the views of people from across the UK using polling, focus groups, interviews and an open call for evidence.
Our recommendations
In its final report, published in January 2023, the Inquiry made five recommendations to national and local government, funders and event organisers:
Long-term impact and a clear plan for “what next” must be the driver for the decision to bid or host a major event
The long-term impact of events must be underpinned by demarcated funding, accountability and governance
Greater attention must be paid to who benefits from events and who is left out
More events should be designed and curated with a broad range of stakeholders to build common ground across divides
Events that use volunteers should have a clear strategy to boost longer-term community volunteering
Our proposals
The Inquiry is also called for two key actions:
A UK City of Sport
The creation of a UK City of Sport competition, modelled on the success of UK City of Culture, with a focus on health and wellbeing.
An events observatory
The formation of an events observatory to marshal evidence and data on the long-term impacts of events.
Recommendations in action
Since we made these recommendations in 2023, we have funded several pieces of research to develop them further, and to explore what a data observatory or UK Capital of Sport would look like in practice.
Creating The Golden Thread
Work with Warwick Business School to find out how improving the events infrastructure can lead to stronger legacies in the UK