Spirit of 2012 closed on 30 January 2026. This website will remain publicly accessible but will not be updated.

Investing in happiness between 2013-2025.

Spirit of 2012 has now closed. It was the London 2012 social legacy organisation founded by the National Lottery Community Fund with an endowment of £47m. We have now closed as planned, but you can still access everything we learned on this website, particularly by click on the Knowledge Bank link above. You can also read our final report to find out how we carried the joy, pride and optimism of the London 2012 Games into events and activities across the UK.

Our Story

Project Detail

Our history

Since 2013, we funded projects and commissioned research that harnesses the power of events – large and small – to make a positive impact for people and their communities as part of the enduring legacy of the London 2012 Games. Spirit of 2012 played a key role in the design and delivery of long-term social impact for events across the UK from Cities of Culture to Great Get Togethers and local festivals and commemorations. The projects we funded have enabled more than 3.6 million people across the UK to take part in activities to make them more active, creative and connected and created more than 60,000 volunteering opportunities.

About Us

Explore our Knowledge Bank

In just a few clicks, you can explore reports, resources and blogs from Spirit and our partners with this easy-to-use database search.

Explore our Knowledge Bank

Getting Started

Not sure where to begin? Each Starter Pack distils Spirit’s most relevant insights into a handful of must-read resources—your expert-curated first step into the wider archive.

Improving Event Evaluation 

Spirit of 2012 has been instrumental in shaping how major UK events from the Commonwealth Games to Cities of Culture understand, articulate, and measure their impact.

Read more

Creating Long-term Event Legacies  

While events have the potential to generate lasting social and economic impact, this isn’t automatic. It depends on host cities and organisers having a shared vision for long-term outcomes—and the commitment, planning, and resources to see it through.

Read more

Developing Events Strategies

By looking at specific examples from around the UK, this will help events organisers seeking to create a tailored strategy which will use events to bring benefits to a host city or region.

Read more

What we did

Explore highlights from the past decade-plus of our work, including our funded projects, legacy learning partnerships, and our policy and impact work to develop and strengthen the events ecosystem through reports like our Inquiry into the Power of Events and Creating the Golden Thread.

Legacy Learning Partners

To ensure that our decade of learning and evidence can continue to inspire meaningful change after Spirit has ended, we partnered with three organisations to carry forward our insights and learning.

Read more

Policy and Research

Spirit of 2012 hasn’t just funded impactful events, we’ve developed an evidence bank about how policy makers and event organisers can use events to achieve social impact.

Read more

Latest news and blogs

Introducing Spirit of 2012’s Areas of Research Interest

As Spirit of 2012 prepares to close its doors on 30 January, after twelve years of funding and exploring how to achieve the greatest social impact from major events, we are pleased to introduce our Areas of Research Interest (ARIs). The ARIs outline priority questions about how events can deliver lasting benefits for people and…

Read more

Loughborough University becomes custodian of the Spirit of 2012 archive

Spirit of 2012 has announced an exciting new chapter for its legacy as it approaches its planned closure later this month, with Loughborough University confirmed as the official custodian of its extensive archive. Spirit of 2012, the London 2012 Games social legacy, was founded by the National Lottery Community Fund with an endowment of £47m…

Read more