This week, Spirit of 2012 released the findings of new research into the impact of our first three years of funding.
The research conclusively links our investment in funding event legacies with increased wellbeing. Spirit’s evaluation engaged with 28 of the projects we have supported since 2013, asking participants and volunteers the same wellbeing questions asked by the ONS.
The results are striking. On average, the increase from baseline to end line in the number of Spirit-funded participants or volunteers who report high levels of wellbeing is 7.9%. Almost 10% of respondents report increased life satisfaction, and 9% more say they felt happy yesterday, with 5% reporting lower anxiety levels.
You can read the full report here
The report was the subject of a special Summit held in central London this week. An invited panel including Baroness Sue Campbell, CBE, Head of Women’s Football at the FA, Martin Green, Director of Hull UK City of Culture 2017, Ted Cantle, a leading authority on inter-cultural relations, Nancy Hey, Director of the What Works Centre for Wellbeing and Jude Kelly, CBE, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre discussed its findings.
The event opened with a keynote speech from Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, a founding trustee of Spirit of 2012. “It is possible to capture that spark of inspiration that events create, and build on it to create a greater, longer-lasting impact on people’s lives – that is what Spirit of 2012 was set up to do,” said Baroness Grey-Thompson. “By investing in people and projects that make a difference, Spirit has been able to capture human and social outcomes of events legacy projects that people often argue are intangible.
The percentage increases in wellbeing and life-satisfaction, and the reduced numbers of those with higher anxiety levels are significant and welcome. These are things we should want for everyone.”
Read our response to the report, and find out what we plan to do next, here.