Keeping the Spirit of 2012 Alive

What's it all about?

In September 2012, The National Lottery Community Fund decided to pledge the money it will receive from the sale of the Olympic Village, £40 million, to an independent trust tasked with helping to secure a lasting social and community legacy from the London 2012 Games.

The Spirit of 2012 Trust looked to fund a range of UK-wide projects that promised to fulfil four key aims:

• Harness the energy, commitment and organisation of the volunteering legacy of the London 2012 Games for community benefit.
• Build on the energy, creativity and positive spirit inspired by the London 2012 Games to galvanise and inspire groups of people into social action.
• Use local and national events as a catalyst for the creation of partnerships which will develop community activities and wider social actions in order to encourage full and active participation from all community members.
• Enhance the post-London 2012 Paralympics understanding of the issues facing disabled people in order to achieve a step-change in positive attitudes to disability and impairment.

The Trust wanted to harness the public spiritedness we saw during the glorious London 2012 Games, where people felt better because they were helping other people and joining together in a public cause. The Trust worked in partnership with other organisations and projects to develop and fund initiatives that take the spirit forward: to enable people – particularly young people - to take an active part in their communities, whether through sport, art and culture, education or volunteering.

It was a key aim of the Trust to continue the legacy of the London 2012 Paralympic games to challenge perceptions of disability and impairments.

Debbie Lye was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Spirit of 2012 Trust. The trustees were:

• Sir Harry Burns
• Baroness Sue Campbell
• Paul Cuttill OBE
• John Gartside OBE
• Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson
• Sir Nicholas Kenyon
• Dugald Mackie
• Jan Paterson
• David Watters

Read the press release: Lord Coe hails £40m to help Spirit of 2012 Trust win legacy gold

Contact the Spirit of 2012 Trust or follow on Twitter @So2012Trust