Spirit of 2012 - Learning from 10 years of practice

We brought together case study evidence to explore ‘how’ and ‘why’ activities support wellbeing.

In partnership with the Campaign to End Loneliness and Pro Bono Economics we mined Spirit of 2012’s extensive library of evidence to deepen the collective understanding of wellbeing evaluation and impact.

Project aims:

• To draw out the ‘golden thread’ that links effective wellbeing projects together.
• To calculate the wellbeing value of Spirit’s investment. 
• To support funders and policy makers to use these approaches to understand the wellbeing impacts of grant funding.

What we did:

Using our synthesis methodology, we brought together existing evidence from Spirit of 2012’s 10-year, £47m investment in community projects in a full report.

We will also convene a Funders and commissioners roundtable, to share insights and recommendations on on how to use this methodology to improve learnings.

Pro Bono Economics applied a cost-effectiveness methodology to calculate the wellbeing value of Spirit’s investment, taking the baton from the Centre, following its planned closure in April 2024.

As well as putting together the report, we have produced a summary briefing with details of our findings and more about our methodological approach.

Background

Spirit of 2012 is the official legacy funder of the London 2012 Games.

With the organisation scheduled to close in 2026, it has sought out “legacy learning partner” organisations who strongly align with its purpose and impact areas to share the learning and insights they have gathered over ten years.

Image credit: Jack Drum Arts