Spirit of 2012, the London 2012 Games social legacy, was founded by the National Lottery Community Fund with an endowment of £47m in 2013. Since its inception, the organisation has supported communities across the UK to build connection, legacy and social cohesion inspired by the Games.
As planned, Spirit of 2012 will close in January 2026. The transfer of its archive to Loughborough University will ensure that the organisation’s learning, research and impact will remain accessible and completely free to policymakers, researchers, funders and anyone dedicated to delivering social impact through events.
Lord Sebastian Coe, speaking on Loughborough University’s Experts in Sport podcast, welcomed the news.
With its world-renowned expertise in sport and social impact, Loughborough University will preserve and expand Spirit’s legacy, ensuring its evidence continues to inform future practice. The publicly available and widely used resources will remain accessible, providing a valuable resource for practitioners and researchers. In addition, the university will house a broader collection of unpublished materials, including documents on organisational strategy and operations, making them available for future use.
Professor Jo Maher, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Sport at Loughborough University, said:
"We are honoured to become custodians of Spirit of 2012’s archive. This collection complements Loughborough’s world-leading expertise in sport and events, and we are committed to preserving and translating this evidence into practical tools that help events deliver long-term social impact. We look forward to collaborating with partners to ensure Spirit’s legacy continues to inspire and inform."
Ruth Hollis OBE, Chief Executive, Spirit of 2012, said: "From the start, Spirit of 2012 set out to understand what makes events meaningful for people and places and to share that learning widely. As we reach our planned conclusion, I’m delighted that Loughborough University will steward our archive, ensuring it remains a living resource that champions inclusion and wellbeing and the social legacy of events. This is the best possible home for a body of work that has always been about creating positive change."
The Spirit of 2012 archive contains a diverse set of materials related to the over 200 grants and commissions, providing a rich foundation for any person, organisation or community wanting to use events as a catalyst for social and community impacts.
Loughborough University researchers have contributed to the delivery and evaluation of Spirit of 2012 programmes across the past 12 years including the evaluation of Access Sports’ Flyerz Hockey programme and a feasibility study for a proposed UK Capital of Sport.
Since 2023, academics have worked as one of Spirit’s three Legacy Learning Partners, with one of the projects, In The Spirit Wood, used evidence from the Spirit Knowledge Bank to create a digital storytelling resource that fosters positive perceptions of disability and impairment from an early age.
Future plans for archive include the development of an oral history archive to complement the existing published website and Knowledge Bank. This will enhance Loughborough’s social impact partnership with UK Sport, ensuring Spirit’s legacy remains dynamic and accessible.
Project lead for the Spirit of 2012 work, Dr Verity Postlethwaite, Lecturer in Strategic Event Management, Loughborough University, added: “This is not the end of the Spirit story, it is the start of a new chapter. As part of the commitment to being the custodian, in the coming three years, we will build on the archive by expanding digital resources, convening thought leader events, and creating opportunities for collaborative research.”
Businesses interested in shaping inclusive practice or exploring Spirit’s evidence can contact Loughborough colleagues via email: spirit@mailbox.lboro.ac.uk
For more information on Loughborough University’s Spirit of 2012 Legacy Learning Partnership, visit: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/schools/sport-exercise-health-sciences/research-innovation/research-spotlights/legacy-learning-partnership/
