The Olympic and Paralympic legacy two years on

Jo Swarbrick analyses the Government's Inspired by 2012 report and discusses what legacy from the London 2012 Games has been felt.

Last Wednesday the Government published the second annual report on the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The report, covering areas including sport and healthy living, economic growth and the Paralympic legacy, provides a comprehensive breakdown of the legacy two years on from the Games.

Interspersed with case studies showcasing the impact of the Games around the country, the report is particularly strong on sport when detailing the various grants, initiatives and programmes being implemented by Sport England, government departments and national governing bodies, and their record of success.

Whereas before some might have seen a disparate landscape of seemingly uncoordinated pots of money, the report paints a picture of a network of different initiatives fitting into a broader landscape with a defined intent.

This is particularly apparent with sport for young people. In looking to capitalise on the Games and increase participation, the report shows a system whereby hard to reach groups are targeted both in and out of school.

Sport England’s Improvement Fund has already invested in clubs and facilities, while its third round of funding will focus on increasing participation amongst 14-25 year olds.

This is in conjunction with Sportivate, which was initially set up to target the same age group with particular emphasis on those young people who would not normally do any sport.

Having had its funding extended to 2017, and widening its focus to also capture 11-13 year olds, Sportivate will work alongside  the Improvement Fund to help drive participation amongst young people.

This is obviously currently a work in progress, and the Alliance will continue to hold government to account to ensure that these commitments are met.

Within schools themselves, the School Games National Finals saw almost 1,500 young athletes take part, supported by over 500 volunteers made up of mainly young people.

On top of this, Sainsbury’s School Games saw over 70% of schools in England take part, with smaller events due to take place throughout 2014.

Coupled with these large events, funding to help schools improve PE has also increased.

The PE and sport premium has been extended to 2015/16 and will invest £450m in school sport. The Conservatives have also outlined their intention to extend this money as far as 2020.

Importantly, Ofsted holds schools accountable over how they spend that money, and will report back to parents. This, combined with an independent evaluation of the premium, should help to ensure that this money is used effectively and efficiently.

Furthermore, Sport England’s £15m university sport activation fund seeks to increase and enhance the sporting offer available at universities, helping to tackle a key drop-off point in young people’s participation.

These programmes are just a snapshot of those included in the complete report. They are useful in showing how the report illustrates a joined-up legacy strategy, one which puts participation first and seeks to target not just those already engaged with sport, but the hard to reach groups who were inspired by the Games.

Sections on the regeneration of East London, economic growth, bringing communities together, and the Paralympic legacy further demonstrate the broad scope of the legacy project, a project which is still in its infancy, but which is already having an effect.

Read more blogs by Jo.

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