With six months to go until the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Spirit of 2012 is proud to launch a new resource for organisations planning education programmes around major events. Developed by Hark and the British Olympic Foundation, and funded by Spirit of 2012, the new publication — A Blueprint For Driving Effective Youth Engagement Through Major Events — offers a practical guide to driving meaningful youth engagement through sport, culture, and commemorative moments.

Alongside the Blueprint is a framework for partnership working. This emphasises the importance of establishing a range of strong partnerships for education programmes linked to major events and offers guidance on how to effectively leverage them.

Why now?

Major events offer a unique opportunity to inspire young people, spark ambition, and foster a sense of belonging. As the legacy funder of London 2012, Spirit of 2012 has long championed the power of these moments to create lasting social impact. This new Blueprint draws on over a decade of experience from the Get Set programme—Team GB and ParalympicsGB’s official education initiative—and includes insights from other major event-linked programmes such as Eurovision and UK City of Culture.

What’s inside the Blueprint?

The Blueprint outlines six core principles for effective youth engagement through education programmes linked to major events:

  1. Embed Education from the Start
    Integrate education into event planning early to ensure alignment with school calendars and maximise impact.
  2. Know your audience
    Tailor content to different age groups and demographics, ensuring accessibility and inclusion for all young people, including those with SEND or from disadvantaged backgrounds.
  3. Utilise the power of your brand and assets
    Leverage the recognisable symbols, values, and role models associated with major events to inspire and engage.
  4. Establish and nurture strong partnerships
    Collaborate with delivery partners, sponsors, and community organisations to extend reach and deepen impact.
  5. Make youth engagement work for you
    Align education programmes with broader organisational goals—whether that’s building future audiences, enhancing social impact, or developing talent pipelines.
  6. Set up for legacy
    Plan for long-term sustainability from the outset, with clear goals, robust evaluation, and a strategy for handover and continuity.

Real-world impact

The Blueprint is rich with case studies, including the story of a Salford student whose visit to London 2012 inspired a career in athletics, and the evolution of the Get Set programme from its 2008 launch to its current form. It also highlights how initiatives like EuroLearn and EuroStreet in Liverpool successfully aligned with Eurovision 2023 to amplify local youth engagement.

A call to action

As we look ahead to Milan-Cortina 2026, Spirit of 2012 invites organisations across the UK to use this Blueprint to shape their own education programmes. Whether you’re working in sport, culture, or community development, this resource offers a roadmap to ensure your efforts leave a lasting legacy for young people.

Ten years of Get Set

The launch of the Blueprint marks the conclusion of Spirit’s relationship with the Get Set programme as we approach closure. Over the course of a decade, we have provided funding for each iteration of Get Set, supporting Olympic and Paralympic Education in schools. All the reports can be accessed here, including the latest report for Path to Paris. The Path to Paris programme encouraged 5–11-year-olds to get active in the run-up to Paris 2024. Spirit’s funding supported reach into schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with a grant of £180,458 over 2 years. Disabled and non-disabled young people had the opportunity to participate in para-sports, while the resources provided equipped teachers with tools to lead discussions on disability and inclusivity. 3.8 million minutes of activity were logged in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland alone.

Jen Rouse, Director of the British Olympic Foundation said:

We are delighted to celebrate the launch of our Get Set Blueprint and Framework in partnership with Spirit of 2012.  The support that Spirit of 2012 has provided over the last ten years has been invaluable in ensuring our legacy from London 2012 has extended right across the UK.  Using major events to inspire young people from all communities is really powerful and we are proud of all that Get Set has achieved.  As we look forward to Milan-Cortina 2026 and then on to LA 2028 – this will continue to be our ambition.

 

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