As Spirit of 2012 reaches the end of its planned journey in 2 weeks’ time, we want to take a moment to reflect, celebrate, and say thank you. Together, we’ve harnessed the power of events and volunteering to create lasting social change, and we couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved alongside our incredible grantees and partners.

“We’re leaving behind the Knowledge Bank, a treasure trove of everything we’ve learned along the way”

We’re leaving behind the Knowledge Bank, a treasure trove of everything we’ve learned along the way including videos, guides, practical tips and case studies freely available to anyone, which will remain accessible through the Spirit of 2012 website for the next 3 years, alongside our archive of published and unpublished material which will be held and made accessible by Loughborough University. They are building on that knowledge base with a series of oral interviews from people involved in Spirit over the years, and I hope it will all be a fascinating resource for researchers and people interested in how to use events, sport, culture and volunteering as a tool for social good for years to come.

Spirit’s legacy will live on through our Legacy Learning Partners Pro Bono Economics (PBE), Belong and Loughborough University and their continued work, building on our evidence, on wellbeing, social cohesion and inclusion. We’ve also just published some Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) for anyone wanting to see where we think there is still more research work and testing to be done.

“We started out with the belief that the best events can be a catalyst for social good”

As I look back on the work we’ve done, I keep returning to the core values that started it all. We started out with the belief that the best events can be a catalyst for social good. They aren’t just celebrations, although the celebration and magic are important; they can, and should be expected to, bring about lasting change. We “Invested in Happiness,” took the joy and hope and optimism that comes from both major events and community participation, and measured its impact.

There are lots of exciting events on the horizon from Glasgow 2026 to the Euros 2028, the Grand Departs, the next City of Culture and new Towns of Culture and I look forward to seeing how Spirit’s work lives on in the way we approach delivering these major events.

Late last year we gathered some of our Board and external advisors to undertake an “appreciative inquiry” into Spirit’s impact. They consider how we had delivered our Trust Deed objects, the Founder’s Wishes and so much more. The group collectively then developed a rapid list of vision principles for the future that comes from the work of Spirit, which is what I want to leave you with:

  • We believe that the best events are a policy intervention for social good
  • We believe investing in happiness is both good value for money and good in itself
  • We believe events are powerful disruptors and catalysts for change
  • We believe that events should have a social purpose
  • We believe bringing people together at events that have a purpose makes people happier as long as everyone can come
  • We believe social impact should have parity with economic impact in events
  • We believe happiness is not a nice to have
  • We would do it all again.

I want to thank all of the Board, the staff team and our partners and enormous thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund for making it possible. It’s been incredible to see the difference we’ve made together, and I can say one thing with absolute certainty.

We absolutely would do it all again.