Spirit of 2012 Trust launched

The Big Lottery Fund has launched the Spirit of 2012 Trust, which aims to deliver a lasting social and community legacy from last year’s Olympic Games.

The £40million Spirit of 2012 Trust, an independent organisation with an endowment of £40million, was unveiled at a reception at the House of Lords on Wednesday 27 November, hosted by Baroness Sue Campbell and attended by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, both of whom are also on the trustee board.

The £40million of funding from BIG is an endowment in advance of the refund from the sale of the Olympic and Paralympic Village.

More information about how to apply for funding from the Spirit of 2012 Trust will become available next year.

The Trust aims to harness the energy, commitment and organisation of the volunteering legacy of the London 2012 Games for community benefit.

It will fund projects that will galvanise groups of people into social action; use local and national events to spur the formation of partnerships to develop community activities, and work to inspire positive attitudes to disability and impairment.

The other trustees are Dugald Mackie (chair), John Gartside, Sir Nicholas Kenyon, Paul Cuttill, Sir Harry Burns, David Watters and Jan Paterson. 

The Trust will launch its first funding programmes in 2014, though BIG has already allocated over £11million to 11 initial projects through its Keeping the Spirit of 2012 Alive campaign. These projects are Join In, Britain’s Personal Best, Get Set to Make a Change, Pedal On UK and National Paralympic Day.