Volunteering & Youth Social Action

Using the platform of events from the major like London 2012 to community events on the doorstep to inspire people into a lifetime of volunteering and social action

What can we learn from event volunteering about how to strengthen volunteering infrastructure over the long term?

How can we design volunteering and youth social action programmes to improve people’s wellbeing and build community cohesion, and how can we attract more of the people who would benefit the most from volunteering?

Over the past decade we’ve funded volunteering and youth social action projects across the UK, inspired by events – large and small – and anniversaries. We’ve discovered more about the link between volunteering and wellbeing, how to create inclusive volunteering opportunities for disabled and non-disabled people, and how to support young people to be agents of change in their communities.

Since the Games Makers arrived on the scene in London in 2012, volunteer programmes have been a key pillar of major events. A clear strategy for boosting longer-term community volunteering is essential to event legacy, and is one of the five recommendations from our Power of Events Inquiry.

Project evaluations Women & Girls

UK Youth: EmpowHER

A comprehensive research project on the benefits of youth social action carried out by UK Youth and funded by Spirit of 2012 and the #iwill Fund.

Project evaluations

Inquiry 2022: How events can boost volunteering

The first report from “Can events help build happy, thriving and more connected communities? A Spirit of 2012 Inquiry.”

Research & Learning Volunteering Volunteering

Volunteering Together: Inclusive Volunteering and Disabled People

This report from Kim Donahue Associates aims to help organisations better understand the needs of disabled people, and open up more volunteering opportunities.

Volunteering

Volunteering Cities

Bradford Conwy England Great Yarmouth Medway Wales

Grants to four cities who bid for UK City of Culture 2025 to strengthen their local volunteering infrastructure.

Women and girls

EmpowHER

Nationwide

To mark the centenary of women’s suffrage, our EmpowHER programme, jointly funded with the #iwill Fund aims to develop and skill up young women and girls to use their voices for positive change – just as their predecessors did 100 years ago.

Community cohesion Volunteering Wellbeing

Moment To Movement

Nationwide

We supported the Jo Cox Foundation to explore community connection and social action through The Great Get Together.

Birmingham 2022 HEY! Volunteering Hull City of Culture Learning volunteering