Leaving a lasting legacy from London 2012 in communities throughout the UK
By 2012, it will be precisely 100
years since the first official commitment to presenting cultural and artistic
activity alongside sport as a core dimension of the Olympic hosting process.
This centenary provides a useful moment to reflect on what culture has brought
to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In particular, the UK has attempted to
overcome past challenges by supporting a cultural programme that makes the most
of the build-up and aftermath of 27 days of world-class sport in 2012, so that
the Olympiad are not only about constructing venues, but also constructing a
lasting creative dialogue with communities throughout the country. This is the
aim of the Legacy Trust.
Legacy Trust UK is an independent
charity that is creating a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London
2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
We are a Principal Funder of the
Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival, and we have 16 programmes with over
100 arts, sports and education projects currently taking place across the UK.
From Stirling to Swansea and Belfast to Brighton, our projects are helping to
build a lasting legacy from the Games in communities across the country.
“The UK School Games is a unique opportunity for everyone to see how
much young sporting talent we have in the UK.”
Jason Gardener, World Indoor
Sprint Champion
Legacy Trust UK was set up in
2007 to support communities and organisations across the UK to create projects
that celebrate London 2012 in a way that is relevant to them and which will
leave a lasting legacy. We fund 16 programmes with over 100 arts, sports and
education projects currently taking place across the UK.
Our projects are very
wide-ranging, but all share three key aims:
• to unite culture, sport and
education, in line with the values and vision of the Olympic and Paralympic
Games
• to make a lasting difference
beyond 2012 for all those involved
• to be grassroots projects,
often small in scale, and unite communities of interest at local and regional
level
Legacy Trust UK has allocated
£40 million funding through twelve regional and four national programmes. Our
funding is provided by the Big Lottery Fund (£29 million), Department for
Culture Media and Sport (£6 million for UK School Games) and Arts Council
England (£5 million).
Since 2008, our projects have
gone from strength to strength, and have so far reached audiences of 4.5
million, directly engaged over 500,000 children and young people, worked with
over 15,000 volunteers and created an economic impact of £35 million.
The Trust is a Principal Funder
of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival. All of our cultural projects
have been part of the Cultural Olympiad and many have also been part of the
London 2012 Festival.
"The UK School Games is the closest experience these youngsters
are going to get to what it would be like to take part in major competitions
such as the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics."
Darren Campbell, Gold Medallist
at the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics Games – 4x100m relay
Our approach
and values
Our mission
Our mission is: “to support a
wide range of innovative cultural and sporting activities for all, which
celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and to leave a lasting
legacy in communities throughout the United Kingdom.”
Our approach
We have a distinctive approach
that is reflected by:
our fully-independent status
our mission: the legacy of the
London 2012 Games
our ‘no frontiers’ mentality: we
cross the traditional boundaries between, for example, sport and the arts, to
create genuinely joined-up initiatives
our networks of funders and
fully-representative Regional Advisory Groups, who ensure that our programmes
reflect regional and local circumstances.
Values
We are committed to achieving UK
wide coverage for our programmes, and to reaching diverse communities.
These goals can only be achieved
through partnerships and joint action, and through listening to, and learning
from, the wide range of interested organisations and individuals throughout the
country.
We are fully committed to the
following principles in our grant making, and we require all of our funded
programmes to demonstrate how these principles are central to their approach:
Promoting accessibility
We believe that accessible
services are those that people can use relatively easily and inexpensively, and
that are sensitive to the different needs and cultures of the people using
them.
Valuing cultural diversity
We value cultural diversity by
recognising that people have different needs, beliefs, values and abilities and
that those differences need to be both respected and promoted. We recognise
that having a diverse public face can help us build trust and confidence among
the varied communities we seek to fund. A diverse workforce can also provide a
richer mix of ideas and talents. We also believe we are more efficient and
effective when our decision-making structures are reflective of the diverse
views of society.
"We want to give as many children as possible a platform to share
their vision with the world and to showcase their creativity through the Tate Movie
Project."
Jane Burton, Tate Movie Project
Director
Promoting participation
Our policies, processes and
programmes must be developed on the basis of real need. This means that the
people who will be affected by them should be involved in their development. We
know that there are groups that are traditionally under-represented in
consultation processes. We commit to working in partnership with those groups
to establish structures that will help them to take a more active role in
shaping the work that we do. In this way we will be able to encourage
participation, openness and honesty.
Promoting equality of opportunity
We recognise that some groups
commonly experience poorer access to employment, have fewer training
opportunities and are under-represented in the workforce, particularly at
senior level. In addition, we know that not all groups have the same access to
services and their experiences of receiving services may be poorer. We believe
that in order to level the playing field we may need to treat people
differently to help them have the same chance to take part in employment and
service opportunities.
Promoting inclusive communities
We believe a cohesive community
is one where people feel they belong, where their lives are appreciated and
valued, people have similar life opportunities and strong and positive
relationships develop between people who are from different backgrounds.
Reducing disadvantage and exclusion
We will fund initiatives that
deal with the causes of disadvantage and exclusion, and target our money on
initiatives that promote inclusion of groups at greatest risk of being
disadvantaged and excluded. Our understanding of what “disadvantaged” and
“excluded” mean will take into account such factors as people’s experience of
discrimination.
"These young people are our future aspiring athletes and
potentially our future Olympians, and this event is an amazing opportunity for
these young athletes to compete on a much bigger scale than some of them are
used to."
Amy Williams, Gold Medallist at
the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games – Skeleton Bob
The Big Sing
On 21st June 2011 at Watergate
Bay, Cornwall, over 300 participants and 400 attendees took part in The Big
Sing. The Works and KEAP had worked together on a similar event in 2010 and
wanted to expand this event for 2011, bringing in new elements of dance and
beach workshops.
Seven primary schools had each
participated in two half-day dance workshops in advance of the main event. On
the day, in dance, art, film-making and beach safety workshops and performed
their pieces to each other. The evening saw nine choirs from across Cornwall,
and one brass band, performing songs from their own repertoire to a delighted
crowd and Cornwall Youth Dance Company performed two dance pieces specifically
commissioned for The Big Sing. The evening culminated in a massed choir and
audience singing of Nick Darke’s ‘The Lobster Song’ and Trelawney.
All of the dance activity was
very successful and the performances were enjoyed by the audience, and the
experience of creating the dance and performing on the beach produced dance of
a very high standard. This was the first time since 2004 that Watergate Bay
Hotel had become involved in a non-profit, community event and it really helped
them deliver on their corporate social responsibility agenda.
The event engaged with community
with volunteers helping out on the day with stewarding, assisting in workshops
and with the public collection.
“It was a fantastic experience to make and perform in such an amazing
place, it felt like the space was a part of the piece. There was a great
atmosphere from the crowd”
Big Sing Participant
The Experience
of a Young Producer
Blaze is an ambitious youth-led
culture and sport programme for Lancashire, Blackpool and the Fylde Coast, part
of WE PLAY, a Legacy Trust UK funded initiative. Liam Roseden is one of many
participants who have been involved in Blaze projects.
Liam is a member of the Fuse
Youth Theatre Group in Nelson, Lancashire where he takes part in youth theatre
and assists with sessions for younger children. In his spare time, Liam writes
stories and scripts and has an interest in working in the creative arts. He’s
just started studying for his GCSEs, and eventually wants to be the first
member of his family to go to university.
In summer 2010 Liam took part in
The Big Game. This project saw Fuse work with artist Tom Russotti, who came
over from New York as an artist in residence, supporting the group to develop a
sports day themed piece of interactive performance.
Members of the group were
involved as ‘young producers’, interviewing and selecting the artist via a
Skype video link, devising the piece, creating characters and costumes, and
making decisions about venues, marketing and planning.
Liam has also worked with Blaze
as an ambassador, speaking about The Big Game at the Blaze launch event and
representing Blaze at other events. Liam feels that Blaze is improving his
understanding of careers and helping to develop the skills he will need in the future:
“It’s giving us opportunities already – we had the interviewing, talking with
the artists we were going to work with, discussing what we were going to do. So
it has actually trained us for the business world out there already, because
that’s what artists have to do every day.” Liam will continue working with
Blaze between now and 2012.
“...It has actually trained us for the business world out there
already, because that’s what artists have to do every day.”
Liam Roseden, Blaze Ambassador,
North West
Olympic
Legacy: Jordan Clarke
At the age of eight Jordan Clarke underwent a liver transplant. Since his major operation he has continued to raise a huge amount of money for charity. Jordan’s extraordinary charity work has helped Birmingham Children’s Hospital, the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation and the Teenage Cancer Trust. Jordan is now sixteen years old and to this date has raised over £12,000 and still continues his work.
At the age of eight Jordan Clarke underwent a liver transplant. Since his major operation he has continued to raise a huge amount of money for charity. Jordan’s extraordinary charity work has helped Birmingham Children’s Hospital, the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation and the Teenage Cancer Trust. Jordan is now sixteen years old and to this date has raised over £12,000 and still continues his work.
Jordan hopes to inspire others with his
story and dreams of becoming a doctor, after being inspired by the doctors who
helped cure him. Jordan wants to defy the idea that if you go under a serious
operation that it restricts you for the rest of your life. As well as attending
Bridgnorth Endowed School, Jordan is involved with the local theatre group and
also as a part-time job, where he is a great part of both teams.
On the 30th May 2012, Jordan
carried the Olympic torch through the town of Broseley, Shropshire. Coca-Cola,
who helped fund his equipment, as well as 1,300 other torchbearers, sponsored
him. “These inspirational people will have the once in a lifetime experience of
carrying the Olympic Flame as it travels around the country, in celebration of
the positive contributions they make to their communities” Coca-Cola stated. Coca-Cola
is the longest continuous supporter of the Olympic Movement. Lloyds TSB, BMW,
BT, British Airways, Adidas, BP and EDF were the official Olympic partners for
the London 2012 Olympics, and alongside Coca-Cola they helped make London 2012
an Olympic Game to remember.
Jordan has completed two annual Bridgnorth Walks, where on both
occasions has won the prize for the most sponsor money raised. Recently Jordan
raised over £6000 at the local golf club for the Children’s Liver Disease
Foundation. Jordan continues to raise money for charity and also enjoys
wrestling as a sport as well his acting.
The Cultural Legacy of London 2012
With the establishment of a
Cultural Olympiad, there is an opportunity to expand the legacy of the Games
and demonstrate that the Olympics and Paralympics have provided a platform for
far more than just the advancement of elite sport or economic regeneration.
When historians look back at
these Games, they will see the most extensive commitment to nationalise an
event that is often considered city-based. This may have been the most
important way in which London 2012 has contributed to keeping the Olympic
movement ‘moving’, as claimed in its original bid vision for the Cultural
Olympiad. The work has committed to developing a common vision that is informed
by local populations and thus relevant to a specific community at a specific
time, while connecting with the universal and timeless aspirations of a world
class event embedded in a genuinely international network and over 120 years of
history.
In closing, it is salient to
note that, in a time of cuts across all public sector departments within the
UK, the long term legacy and contribution of art and culture to wider economic
and social agendas cannot easily be overlooked or misunderstood. In part this
is because understanding the broader cultural economy that underpins Britain’s
brand as a world-class creative nation is considered beyond simple economic
indicators. With this report, there can be no question that the Cultural
Olympiad has provided a lasting platform for culture and arts programming while
advancing complex cross-sector and UK-wide collaborations.
“The impact of such interactions
will be felt for years to come.”
Lord Coe
