Legacy 2014 Evaluation - Big Lottery Fund's contribution to the 2014 Commonwealth Games Legacy
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Legacy 2014 Evaluation Big Lottery Fund’s contribution to the 2014 Commonwealth Games Legacy
Legacy 2014 evaluation Further copies available from: Email enquiries.scotland@biglotteryfund.org.uk Phone 0845 4 10 20 30 Text Relay: 18001 plus 0845 4 10 20 30 (for those with a hearing or speech impairment). Our website www.biglotteryfund.org.uk Written by Aine Lovedale Accessibility Please contact us to discuss any particular communications needs you may have. Our equality principles Promoting accessibility; valuing cultural diversity; promoting participation; promoting equality of opportunity; promoting inclusive communities; reducing disadvantage and exclusion. Please visit our website for more information. We care about the environment The Big Lottery Fund seeks to minimise its negative environmental impact and only uses proper sustainable resources. Our mission Helping communities and people most in need. Our values We have identified three values that underpin our work: being supportive and helpful, making best use of Lottery money and using knowledge and evidence. You can find out more about us, our values and the funding programmes including Bright New Futures by visiting our website www.biglotteryfund.org.uk The Big Lottery Fund is committed to valuing diversity and promoting equality of opportunity, both as a grantmaker and employer. The Big Lottery Fund will aim to adopt an inclusive approach to ensure grant applicants and recipients, stakeholders, job applicants and employees are treated fairly. © Big Lottery Fund, March 2015
Contents
Introduction 4
Legacy outcomes 5
Link to legacy outcomes 6
Big Lottery Fund’s investment in Legacy 6
Identifying Legacy outcome of programmes 7
Internal Programmes 8
Methodology 8
Celebrate 10
2014 communities 20
Lessons Learnt 26
External Programmes And Funded Projects 29
Active East 30
MyTime Active 32
UWS Digital Commonwealth 34
Beyond the Finish Line 36
Volunteer Support Pot 38
Host City Volunteers 40
Pilotlight 42
Conclusion 44
Annex: 45
Figure 1: Celebrate grants by LA area 45
Figure 2: 2014 communities grants by LA area 46
Figure 3: Timeline of Legacy investments 47
Introduction This report provides an overview of the Legacy Previous evaluations of large scale sporting events activities The Big Lottery Fund has invested in and (such as the 2002 Commonwealth Games in how they have contributed to the outcomes set out Manchester) have tended to focus on outcomes by The Scottish Government in its Legacy plans for around physical regeneration and economic activity. In the 2014 Glasgow commonwealth Games. part this is due to the high level of investment into A key driver of the 2014 Games Legacy plan was infrastructure required to host such events, which in recognition that ‘legacy doesn’t happen by itself’. We turn leads to a cost/benefit approach to evaluating have to make it happen. As part of this, The Fund in impact. Whilst this can be useful, it potentially leads Scotland invested in a wide range of Legacy activities, to an evidence gap around the ‘softer’ social some large, some small, but all with the aim of outcomes experienced by the communities who host engaging people in the positive opportunities the event. presented by The Games. Our goal was for funding to This evaluation hopes to begin filling that gap by support people to be engaged, active, confident and contributing to the qualitative evaluation of the 2014 proud; for childhood obesity, inactivity and social Games. It offers insight into how funding can exclusion to be challenged; and for communities to empower communities to engage with large events feel inspired and empowered to make positive and ensure a lasting benefit for all. Legacy can be changes to their lives. It is this engagement that described as a long journey and to get from A to B marks our contribution to the Legacy journey as it requires lots of smaller steps in between. At this stage imparted people with a sense of involvement, of (six months after the Games) it may be too soon to excitement, but most importantly of ownership, over ascertain what shape Legacy will take in the long term the shared resources and communities that helped but we can, however, describe the first steps that will bring The Games to life. help us get there. 4
Legacy outcomes
In its Scotland-wide plan, ‘A Games Legacy for
Scotland’ the Scottish Government, along with
various partners, identified the below four outcomes
that it hoped to achieve through delivery of the 2014
Commonwealth Games:
G
IN A
Y
OM
CT
ON
SH
EC HE
H LP
TIS SC
OT OT
SC S
BE
E
TH Increase physical M
I
F Increase growth of O
IV
activity and R
R
O
Scottish business participation
E
TH
U
PH
W
in sport
E
YS
RO
IC
O
G
AL
E
TH
LY
FL
AC
O
ET
TIV
UT
E
RIB
NT
Increase movement Improve the
CO
Improve the into employment, active infrastructure
perception of training and (people and places)
Scotland as a world volunteering
Improve Scottish
class destination sporting success
for business, events
and tourism Volunteering
Young People
Engaging
Communities
Sustainability
DEMONST
Equalities
Improve the Increase
Partnership
physical and social engagement
Working
Improve the through new
R AT E
environment of
Glasgow, in perception of artistic, cultural
Strengthen and and creative
Scotland as a
OUR
particular the empower communities
Y
experiences
ALL
East End creative nation,
in Scotland and the
ENV
producing world
ON
Commonwealth
class cultural
AT I
I RO
experiences
RN
NM
TE
EN
IN
TA
SU
D
LR
AN
D
Enhance
E
E
SP
young people’s
M
O
HO
TE
N
Demonstrate learning and
ST
SI
AT
everyone’s
BI
Y sustainable design
LI
RE
understanding and U
T
A and environmental LT
EC
N
N
CU
A
D
responsibility celebration of our and
HE D
N
other countries’
LP AN
A
I
CO cultures G
IN
N
MM
BL
UN RN
ITI LEA
CO
ES EN
E
LIV
E M EN GTH
ORE
S U S TA STR
I N A B LY
5
Link to legacy outcomes
Big Lottery Fund’s investment in Legacy volunteering opportunities, which led us to support
Our legacy investment began in November 2008 with Glasgow Life’s ‘Host City Volunteer’ programme.
the launch of the £6.4m micro-grants programme We developed and funded a range of projects and
‘2014 Communities’ to support increased programmes through our ‘Supporting Great Ideas’
participation in sport, physical activity and initiative which have contributed to the legacy
volunteering throughout Scotland. A further £6m framework. In total, £2.8m was invested in the
budget was allocated to 2014 Legacy by the Fund’s following: MytimeActive (£1.7m); Active East
Scotland Committee in 2009 to support Legacy (£0.1m);
themes nationally, in Glasgow and in the communities
most impacted in the East End. From 2010 to 2014 Pilotlight (£0.1m); Beyond the Finish Line (£0.1m);
we developed and funded a range of projects and Host City Volunteers (£0.6m); Digital Commonwealth
programmes which contributed to the legacy (£0.2m).
framework. Jobs and Business Glasgow was funded through our
As we approached 2014 The Scotland Director took mainstream Life Transitions programme to deliver
the lead in proposing a joint lottery fund specifically ‘Personal Best’, supporting young adults into
for the Games, and ‘Celebrate’ was launched in April employment through events volunteering, but
2013. Celebrate was funded by all four lottery timelines meant project delivery did not align with the
distributors who worked in partnership to support a Games. The People’s Development Trust was
wide range of projects that celebrated the Games. It awarded £1.3m for the fit out and running costs of
enabled communities in all 32 Local Authorities to the Dalmarnock Community hub, which is due to be
celebrate the creative and cultural diversity of the completed in March 2015. Neither is considered
Commonwealth Games. further in this report.
Following the London Olympics, the Fund invested Big Lottery Fund has invested more than £15m
£40m at a UK level to establish the ‘Spirit of 2012 directly into this wide range of projects and
Trust’ to harness and build on the energy, social programmes, all of which have contributed to the
action and positivity that emerged during the 2012 Legacy of the 2014 Games. Through the two small
Games, with its first £5m programme focused on grants programmes we delivered internally, to the
Glasgow 2014. Spirit of 2012 Trust and our contribution to the
various external programmes, we have made a
Our Head of Funding was seconded to the Glasgow considerable contribution to the opportunities,
2014 Organising Committee (OC) on a part-time wellbeing and capacity of Scottish communities.
basis from January 2013 which provided the Fund
with an excellent insight into emerging gaps and
opportunities arising from the Games planning and
delivery. For example, learning from 2012 indicated
that cost was a real barrier to inclusive volunteer
participation so The Fund, working with the OC,
contracted Volunteer Scotland to deliver a ‘Volunteer
Support Pot’ to help with volunteer retention during
the 2014 games. The demographic profile of those
successful in the Clyde-sider selection process
indicated a gap around more flexible, inclusive
6Identifying Legacy outcome of programmes
As The Big Lottery Fund has supported a wide range of Legacy projects we have contributed to three out of
four of the Legacy outcomes. Our funding has linked to the ‘Active’, ‘Connected’ and ‘Flourishing’ outcomes as
indicated in the table below.
Programme Funding from BIG Legacy Theme
Celebrate £4.5 Connected
2014 communities £6.4 m Active
Active East £0.1m Active
Mytime Active £1.7m Active
UWS Digital Commonwealth £0.2m Connected
Beyond the Finish Line £0.1m Flourishing
Volunteer Support Pot £0.5m Flourishing
Glasgow Host City Volunteers £0.6m Flourishing
Pilotlight £0.1m Flourishing
Our internally delivered programmes, Celebrate and 2014 Communities have helped to deliver the ‘Connected’
and ‘Active’ outcomes respectively and our evaluation has highlighted some key learning points for supporting
the continuation of this legacy. Additionally, through our support of various externally delivered legacy
programmes we have further contributed to the ‘Active’ and ‘Flourishing’ outcomes.
7Internal programmes
Methodology In addition, telephone interviews were conducted
In order to measure our contribution to Legacy with 15 grant holders to gather more in-depth data.
outcomes, an internal review of our small grants Projects with a range of themes and beneficiaries
programmes Celebrate and 2014 Communities was were selected to ensure a wide sample.
conducted, during and after the Games period in As the decision to evaluate the Legacy impact of
summer 2014. A qualitative approach was used to 2014 Communities was only made in the final year of
capture the personal perspective of grant recipients, the six year programme, appropriate evaluation
who were asked to reflect on the legacy their Lottery processes had not been built into the programme.
funded projects had on participants and the wider Therefore it has been difficult to collect suitable data
community. Many projects had gathered feedback for the whole 2014 Communities programme.
from participants either during or after their event Instead, the evaluation has been narrowed down to
occurred and some of their quotes have been the final year of the programme. This sample size was
assimilated into this overall report. considered more likely to capture projects with a
A questionnaire was sent to 574 Celebrate grant closer link to the Games and Legacy outcomes.
holders (with 95 responses received) and to 526 of With its launch just one year before Games time, the
the 2014 Communities grant holders (with 79 Celebrate programme was developed with a greater
responses received). The small return rate is awareness of the Legacy outcomes, so the funding
acknowledged but not wholly surprising given the team were fully dedicated to capturing relevant data
profile of small grant holders as typically hard to throughout the programme. This has resulted in a
engage groups. greater amount of available data for Celebrate than
for 2014 Communities. However due to their
similarity in programme outcomes and size it is
reasonable to extrapolate this data to identify key
outcomes of 2014 Communities.
89
Celebrate
Duration: April 2013 – May 2014
Funding: £4.5m
Activities: Small grants awarded to help communities
deliver a wide range of cultural and creative projects
to celebrate the Games coming to Scotland
Legacy outcome: Connected
Running from April 2013 to May 2014 Celebrate was Project Activities Number of projects
a new, jointly funded programme specifically
developed to support communities to celebrate the Opening and Closing 93
sports and cultures of the Commonwealth. With a Ceremonies
focus on fun and creativity, it offered everyone a Mini Commonwealth Games 27
chance to share in the excitement of the Games in a
Taster Sessions 68
way that was unique or meaningful to them.
Exhibitions 63
Aims:
The programme aimed to encourage communities to Performances 123
come together in recognition and celebration of the Gala Days 24
diverse range of identities, cultures and experiences
of people in the Commonwealth. It also aimed to help Workshops 169
people feel a sense of pride and engagement with the Concerts 19
once in a lifetime national event; to feel connected to
After school activities 12
their own community and the wider family of
Commonwealth nations.
Distributors: Programme outcomes:
Celebrate was jointly funded by four distributors (Big Celebrate offered grants of between £500 to
Lottery Fund, SportScotland, Creative Scotland and £10,000 to projects that met the following
Heritage Lottery) who collaborated to deliver the aims outcomes:
of the programme.
●● Communities come together through arts,
Activities: heritage, sports and local celebrations of the
As one of our more ‘playful’ programmes, Celebrate Commonwealth Games
funded a wide range of activities, from gala days,
●● Communities celebrate the people, places and
festivals and art exhibitions to the more quirky such
culture of the Commonwealth.
as scarecrow making for people with dementia in
Caithness and Sutherland, to a week long beach party In total, £4,511,059 was awarded to 642 projects
in Elcho Gardens Calton, complete with 30 tonnes of which benefited 5.2 million people in all 32 Local
sand and Commonwealth themed entertainment. Authority areas (see annex 1 for details).
“We wanted to encourage new collaborations and connections within
communities, celebrate cultural diversity and build the confidence of new
groups to access funding. Celebrate made a huge contribution to Legacy
and making these a Games for everybody by enabling communities to
make the Games their own. “
Rona Alexander, Head of Funding, Big Lottery Fund Scotland
1011
Legacy Outcome: CONNECTED Improve the perception of Scotland as a creative
With its focus on communities celebrating the nation, producing world class cultural experiences:
Commonwealth Games through cultural and creative
activities the celebrate programme was highly C1: Perception of Scotland
successful in achieving the ‘Connected’ outcome. internationally (culture & sporting 6.2 per cent
Communities coming together to celebrate were at excellence)
the very heart of all the projects we funded and
C3: Memory of the event 18.7 per
feedback from grant holders indicates an increased
cent
awareness of Scottish culture as well as understanding
of other Commonwealth cultures. C4: Visits by overseas and UK
2.9 per cent
Monitoring is still ongoing but to date, out of a total tourists (trips and expenditure)
of 642 funded projects, we have received 240 ‘End
Increase engagement through new artistic, cultural
of Grant’ reports which show the following indicators
and creative experiences:
were met for the ‘Connected’ outcome:
C5: Level of public engagement in 23.3 per
Scotland with the Games cent
C6: Cultural engagement in
Scotland among adults and young 27.0 per
people (attendance and cent
participation)
Enhance young people’s learning and everyone’s
understanding & celebration of our and other
countries’ cultures:
C9: National and civic pride 19.5 per
cent
“Celebrate helped maximise the exposure of the commonwealth
games by funding small events which were inspired by the Games.
Our hope would be that more people were sign posted to sports clubs
as a means of continuing the sporting experience that they received
through the Celebrate funded projects.”
Andy Kelly, Project Manager, SportScotland
12Key Theme 1: Community cohesion Voluntary/Community organisations
and identity Schools
The majority of funded projects had a community
focus and indeed the largest number of applications Statutory bodies
received was from Voluntary and Community
organisations (see chart on the right).These projects Community councils
tended to involve large community gathering, often
involving food, music, dance, sport and general fun Whilst this shows the positive effect for individuals at
activities which appealed to all parts of the the point of project delivery, there is also evidence of
community. a longer term impact for communities as a whole. For
Celebrate in particular was highly successful in many, these fun events brought about a sense of
achieving its outcomes to help communities creatively identity and connection with others and increased
celebrate the Games, feel connected to their own pride in the community:
community and increase knowledge of other “On reflection, most people’s experience was one of
Commonwealth cultures. In response to our feeling part of a community, of having space to
questionnaire: share and connect meaningfully with family, friends
●● 96.8 per cent of respondents reported that and new people.”
participants felt the event was ‘fun and enjoyable’ “We contributed also to a sense of civic pride and
●● 66.3 per cent increased their knowledge of the well being in the town... the community focus around
Commonwealth our street activities was especially strong and
inclusive; it drew people of all ages to the work and
●● 75.8 per cent enjoyed taking part in physical created a genial and happy atmosphere which we
activity believe has strengthened the relationship between
●● 66.3 per cent enjoyed taking part in cultural and the festival and the community such that in future
creative activities years we will be able to enhance our community
work yet further, creating more opportunities for
●● 44.2 per cent felt better connected to their
inclusive and quality arts in the area.”
community.
“Through Celebrate we inspired and enabled a wider and more diverse
range of locally based organisations to deliver Games related cultural
activity within and for their communities. It was an important funding
source for projects aligned with our equalities agenda including BaME,
LGBT, older people and people with disabilities.”
Anne Petrie, Development Officer, Creative Scotland
13Case study - Pollokshaws Area Network
Community cohesion was evident in Pollokshaws where parts of the local area have
been demolished but delays to the regeneration process have left some residents
demoralised and concerned about housing issues. A local community group recognised
the effect this ‘high level’ issue was having on the area and wanted to help address it at a
community level. So, hoping to raise spirits and boost community pride, the ‘Pollokshaws
Area Network’ used Celebrate funding to organise a range of events including a
Commonwealth gala day, sports day and Commonwealth legacy garden. Working in
partnership with local sports clubs, church groups, The National Trust and other local
community groups the events effectively engaged with the wider community which
raised the groups profile and attracted more participants and volunteers. The events
received very good feedback from the community, with many expressing a desire for
future similar events which bring everyone together for a fun and positive experience.
Key Theme 2: Games as a ‘hook’ reported ‘piggy backing’ onto the existing publicity
Building a project around a recognisable ‘theme’ such and excitement felt throughout Scotland and
as the Games seems to have made it easier for many particularly in the host city Glasgow.
first time applicants and hard to reach groups to Timing limited the number of projects able to include
engage with the funding process. Many grant holders the cost of Games tickets in their applications but
reported that they were attracted and encouraged to many did benefit from 1000 tickets the Fund
apply because of the growing ‘buzz’ around the distributed through the Scottish Government Legacy
Games. 2014 Initiative as well as late returns and Opening
The PR and marketing associated with such a high Ceremony rehearsal tickets distributed by the
profile international event generally made it easier for Glasgow 2014 Legacy and Engagement team.
smaller projects to raise their own profile. Many
“People came from all over the world for the Commonwealth Games. It was
a unique opportunity for us to celebrate and share our heritage with them.
With Celebrate funding, diverse communities across Scotland showcased
their history and culture and their links to the Commonwealth nations.”
Colin McLean, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland
14Case study - The Bike Station The Glasgow Bike Station (formerly the Bike Shed) effectively capitalised on the excitement and publicity surrounding the Games in order to deliver a two week cycling festival in June 2014. The group were keen to engage people who might not necessarily get involved in the main Games and in particular women and people from black and minority ethnic communities, who are often under-represented in cycling. Recognising the importance of partnership working in order to reach the widest audience, the Bike Station utilised and strengthened existing networks with other cycling and community groups, including CTC Glasgow, Freewheel North, Glasgow women’s library and Belles on Bikes. Together they delivered accessible, recreational activities which focused on the sociable rather than physical side of cycling in order to make it less intimidating for those new to it. Themed activities included foraging whilst riding in the countryside, a pedal powered cinema and a women’s heritage ride around Glasgow. By offering “cycling with a purpose”, the festival successfully introduced new people to cycling, approximately two thirds of whom were women. The project clearly benefitted from “the Games fever in Glasgow at the time [which] generated a lot of interest and enthusiasm” and also from the strong partnership working between the different cycling groups. The experience of delivering such a successful project has also strengthened their model of partnership working and encouraged those involved to form an official network, ‘The Glasgow Community Cycling Network’. Working at a grassroots level, this new network will empower cycling community groups in a way that is sometimes not as easy to attain at a local authority level. They are already planning to hold another larger festival next year: “Now we’re in a position where we could confidently apply for funding in the future to work together because we know we work well together and we can produce something that’s really successful”. However, not all groups found it beneficial to ‘hook’ Overall, though, the Games theme was regarded as a onto the Games theme. LGBT Youth Scotland initially good way to inspire groups to deliver something new found it difficult to find a suitable venue for their and encouraged communities to get involved. project during games time as most venues were fully Feedback from many of our grant holders suggests booked. Others reported issues getting the level of they found the experience positive and are now participation they expected due to ‘saturation’ of interested in delivering future projects. events meaning there was “too much going on all at once” – not surprising with over 200 projects taking place in the Glasgow area alone. 15
Key Theme 3: Networks and From the applications we received it was also evident
partnership working that in many cases schools, local authorities, local
A large number of groups effectively utilised clubs and community groups were working together
networks and partnership working to deliver their to access our funding:
projects and many commented that they wouldn’t “The event improved relationships between the school
have been able to deliver such a ‘large scale’ or and a number of local groups. This will further help us
‘ambitious’ project without our funding and exposure as we strive to become a community sports hub. The
to other stakeholders/networks. This links back to the feel good factor will be felt for some time, all involved
overall idea of the Games as a ‘hook’ as because so created history that morning”.
many groups were working on similar types of
This indicates the emergence of stronger networks and
projects there was increased awareness and
joined up working between service providers and
knowledge sharing about support available.
groups who work with children and young people, which
could be considered a positive legacy of our funding.
Case study - Active Stirling
Through our funding Active Stirling were able to provide a wide programme of
extra-curricular sports and activities to primary schools throughout the Stirling
Council area. Various after schools clubs were set up, with support from local clubs
and Sports Leaders in local High Schools who were able to offer sports not normally
delivered by the schools. Active Stirling worked hard to link in with existing sports
clubs and services, such as the local tennis club and cycling groups. Through these
new partnerships new programmes have now been set up for the children to attend
in future. This approach was very successful in both increasing the children’s interest
in new sports and also strengthening partnerships with local clubs who were keen to
promote and support future collaboration with the schools. As a result some of the
schools involved are now planning to include the new sports in the curriculum in order
to foster the children’s newly formed interest which will support a long term legacy of
increased physical activity.
16Key theme 4: Capacity building However, an important point was raised about the
Most feedback from grant holders suggests they now need for future funding to support this legacy work:
feel more confident about delivering similar projects “Without the Celebrate funding, the event couldn’t
again as a result of building their internal capacity, have happened certainly on the scale that it did. And
developing relationships with stakeholders and that was one of the anecdotal comments from one of
increased awareness/participation from the public. the community partners: “That was a great event. But
For some smaller organisations, the experience of how do you then replicate it the next year or the year
delivering a Celebrate funded project boosted their after without significant funding?” And to some
confidence and ambitions to deliver future projects: extent I think we can. You know the partnerships are
“We were able to think very ambitiously for the first there. The community spirit if you will, the social
time and deliver an exceptional programme. This has capital is all there but it would be useful to have a
been a very strong learning process for all of us and similar financial support to facilitate events like
we intend to build on the experience. In particular we that happening.”
will begin planning for next year now.” Key Theme 5: Engaging and celebrating
“I think the experience of organising and delivering diverse groups
an event of this size has definitely encouraged us Another positive outcome was the programme’s
to think as big in the future and perhaps expand success in attracting groups new to lottery funding
on already existing events to make them bigger and groups working with and/or led by people from
and better.” ethnic communities. Typically, only 5 per cent of
This suggests a legacy of improved capacity for applications we receive are from groups who classify
many organisations which will hopefully lead to their beneficiaries as people from BME communities.
future successful funding applications and delivery However, 15 per cent of Celebrate applications were
of other projects. from these groups.
Overall
Priorities
Number Awarded Average
Children and Young People 427 £2,934,846 £6,873
Older people/those who care for them 55 £367,222 £6,677
Black and minority ethnic 95 £742,414 £7,815
Refugees, Asylum seekers and new migrants 34 £280,894 £8,262
Disabled people/those who care for them 74 £572,980 £7,743
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender 5 £49,732 £9,946
Areas high on SIMD index 159 £1,075,574 £6,765
None/open to all 90 £618,786 £6,875
17Celebrate was also successful in engaging isolated and Key Theme 6: Cultural exchange and
minority groups to participate in events: integration
“The project increased participation by our community Celebrates success in attracting applications from
in Kirkcaldy, especially women and young people in ethnically diverse groups appears to have been largely
sport, culture, exercise, and outdoor activities. It due to the social and cultural aspects of the
provided opportunities for the most excluded, and programme. Many projects included a multi-cultural
isolated members of the community to meet with theme to reflect the international aspect of the
other members of the host communities in a safe and Games. This was particularly effective in engaging
supportive environment. This has increased their self with people from BME communities as it encouraged
confidence, and allows them to play a fuller part in the celebration of diversity and showcasing of different
life of the community.” cultures. Engagement was fostered through sociable
activities such as eating, dancing, singing and other
Building on the success of delivering projects around
creative outputs which were accessible and inclusive:
creative and cultural themes, in January 2015 we
collaborated with Glasgow Life to run an outreach “It has given young people from Scottish born and
event for Celebrate grant holders who are from or migrant backgrounds alike a chance to express their
work with BME communities. The aim was both to views on current issues of critical importance. They
raise awareness of wider funding opportunities and to have been able to portray their ideas of identity and
promote opportunities to be involved in the 20th create an image of Glasgow in stark contrast to
anniversary of the Glasgow Mela in June. This event negative media portrayals...at the very least this is a
was attended by approximately 50 people from a starting point to challenging negative attitudes and
range of BME communities all of whom were very prejudice towards migrant communities and young
positive about the opportunity of reapplying and the people in Glasgow”.
support they were being given to do so.
Case study - Whale, the Arts Agency
Working with a range of partners, ‘Whale, the Arts Agency’ organised a variety of artistic
activities, all with significant outreach to the wider community to get people involved and
interacting. They used funding to support local adults with additional support needs and
learning disabilities to work with textile artists to produce a piece of art; deliver a joint
dance project including Scottish and Indian dance; and hold a final event ‘Celebrate Wester
Hailes’ with performances from drama groups, musicians and dancers. The project served
to develop and strengthen partnerships with other organisations and widen community
engagement, particularly with people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, who
the project specifically targeted. With over 300 people attending the final celebration event
the grant holder is keen to build on the success of the project and harness this into a legacy
of continued engagement and partnership working.
18A common pattern to emerge was the strengthening As we had anticipated, our funding programmes were
of cultural integration through delivery of projects very popular with schools and nurseries who
with a creative or cultural theme. Many of the embraced the core Commonwealth themes of ‘Sport’
Celebrate funded projects showcased the food, art, and ‘Culture’, often delivering their own ‘mini-Games’
music and dance of different Commonwealth sports days. Funding supported children to try out
countries in a colourful, celebratory manner, ‘taster’ sessions of different sports and activities and
effectively presenting diversity as a positive part of many projects incorporated a cultural element into
society. their projects by showcasing Commonwealth food,
music and cultures which helped bring communities
together. School projects often utilised the resources
available through Game On Scotland to enhance
classroom and extra-curricular activity.
Case study - Royston Nursery
Staff at Royston Nursery were particularly keen to instil positive learning for the 2- 5 year
olds who participated in their project. In the weeks building up to their ‘Commonwealth
Day’, where children competed in different sports, the children also learnt about different
Commonwealth countries. In recognition of the multi-cultural background of many of
the children, the Nursery Manager actively engaged their parents to join in and share
information about their home countries. This helped to break down barriers and encourage
parents from culturally diverse backgrounds to integrate with the other parents during the
project:
“It was a good way for parents to come in and interact with everyone else. It’s quite
daunting for some of the parents, who don’t have much English, but it’s been really
good, they’ve been very supportive of it all.”
The project successfully engaged with parents and children from different cultural
backgrounds by celebrating diversity in a fun, educational setting which removed
language barriers. As a result some of the parents have been interacting more with staff
and other parents, suggesting they are now more integrated into the community.
192014 Communities
Duration: November 2008 – August 2014
Funding: £6.4m
Activities: Small grants awarded to encourage increased
participation and volunteering in sports and physical activity
Legacy outcome: Active
One year after Glasgow won the bid to host the 2014 Activities:
Commonwealth Games, The Big Lottery Fund Typical activities and items funded through 2014
launched the first Commonwealth Games legacy Communities included: coaching; sport taster
funding scheme. The programme, ‘2014 sessions; extra-curricular activities; community
Communities’, ran for six years and aimed to increase exercise classes; school links to clubs; sports
grassroots participation and volunteering in sport and equipment and uniforms. However, funding wasn’t
physical activity. just for sports, it also supported activities such as
The Fund recognised the opportunity presented by gardening, walking and dancing to ensure people with
the Games to deliver a legacy which went beyond a wide range of abilities and interests could benefit.
sporting activity and facilities, towards a community Programme outcomes:
focus on healthy, active lifestyles. With an emphasis Grants of between £300 and £2000 were made
on volunteering and a broad range of physical available to voluntary and community sector
activities which went beyond mainstream sports, the organisations, councils and schools for projects that
programme was developed to improve health and delivered one of the following outcomes:
wellbeing for communities throughout Scotland.
●● More people take part in sport or physical activity
Aims:
●● More people volunteer in sport or physical activity
The programme aimed to increase the number of
people participating and volunteering in sport or ●● More people and communities are brought
physical activity and, crucially, we took a broad together through taking part or volunteering in
approach to ‘physical activity’ as including any kind of sport or physical activity
movement, such as walking, gardening or dance. Whilst funding was available to most statutory and
This is very much in line with the Scottish community organisations, we prioritised those
Government’s strategy for physical activity ‘Let’s communities and groups with low participation in
Make Scotland More Active’ which describes physical physical activities such as women and girls and people
activity as “movement of the body that uses energy”. from BME communities. We were also successful in
It is expected that, through our funding, any increase engaging with smaller groups and more hard to reach
in physical activity will have long term positive effects beneficiaries who may not have applied for funding
on the health and wellbeing of participants, as well as before.
contributing to the prevention agenda of public policy. By targeting funding at small, grassroots organisations
Another key aim was to promote community ‘2014 Communities’ took a bottom-up approach
integration and capacity by encouraging people to which supported local community groups and clubs to
come together through volunteering and participation access funding, often for the first time. For many
in events. Recognising the potential for community groups, this funding not only allowed them to deliver
cohesion offered by volunteering the programme new activities but also helped to raise their profile
aimed to increase volunteer numbers during funded within the community and engage with local sports
events but also to encourage a legacy of volunteering clubs and facilities.
long after the projects were delivered.
20Questionnaire feedback shows the following were Key theme 1: Increased participation
achieved: through barrier removal
●● 88.6 per cent found the event fun and enjoyable One of the major outcomes of 2014 Communities
funding was the removal of barriers to participation in
●● 82.3 per cent enjoyed taking part in a new physical
physical activities. Although it awarded relatively small
activity or sport
pots of money (£400-£2,000) the funding made a
●● 63.3 per cent reported improved confidence big impact on the beneficiaries, supporting people in
●● 51.9 per cent learned about the benefits of a all 32 local authority areas to participate in new
healthy lifestyle sports and physical activities.
●● 48.1 per cent intend to make sport or physical Funding covered costs for essential items such as
activity part of their lifestyle sports kits, equipment, coaches’ fees, transport and
venue hire which enabled new sports clubs and
●● 38 per cent enjoyed volunteering activity groups to be established. Feedback from
Since 2008 a total of 4192 grants have been grant holders highlights the huge difference that
awarded across all Local Authority areas, with a 2014 Communities funding has had on the immediate
combined value of worth £6,468,646 9 (see annex 2 and long term health and wellbeing of participants:
for details). “More young people tried new sports in venues they
Legacy outcomes: ACTIVE had never been in around Glasgow. Tiredness
In recognition that fewer people in Scotland are through sport is a good feeling as opposed to
regularly participating in sport or physical activity, tiredness through lethargy!”
2014 Communities took a broad approach to funding “The grant has given young people opportunities
activities in order to maximise the accessibility and that were previously inaccessible to them due to
impact of our funding. The programme was very financial restrictions.”
much about removing barriers to participation and
For others, funding to cover core items meant the
investing in local community groups. For many people,
club could keep membership fees to a minimum, or
lack of money, confidence or services was preventing
even offer sessions for free, in order to make the
them from being more active so 2014 Communities
activities accessible to a wider range of people:
funding focused on overcoming these obstacles to
build a legacy of healthier, more active communities. “The purchasing of equipment through the grant
kept the start up cost low and therefore ensured we
Although many of the projects we funded included an
could charge a minimum membership fee. Reducing
element of community building which will have
the membership fee meant individuals could join the
contributed to the ‘Connected’ outcome, the strongest
club and participate without the worry that cost
Legacy outcome for 2014 Communities is ‘Active’.
brings. Removing the barrier of cost to participation
has allowed the club grow to a total of 22 members
in our first 7 months.”
21Key Theme 2: Volunteers “We now have systems and contacts in place including
It has not been possible to fully gauge the a core of volunteers to make it easier for the event to
volunteering legacy of 2014 Communities projects as continue.”
feedback sought and received from grant holders has Whilst we have limited feedback directly from
focussed on outcomes for participants rather than volunteers, many of the project organisers have
volunteers. However, some impacts have been identified some immediate benefits for volunteers,
identified and it is reasonable to assume these might such as increased skills and confidence:
be common to other projects involving volunteers.
“Our volunteers have learnt many skills from assisting
As many projects were organised by community professional coaches.”
groups they often relied on volunteers to help deliver
activities and indeed some reported they would not “Over 40 children and young people participated in
have been able to run their projects without volunteer the project some of whom played cricket for the very
support. For some groups, the process of recruiting first time. We also had volunteers who improved their
and training volunteers has been very valuable for the skills and experience by coaching these children”.
potential success of future projects, with some “The volunteers involved also benefited by working
commenting that holding a Games themed project with children they didn’t know and gained valuable
raised their profile within the community and made it coaching experience working with a higher qualified
easier to attract more volunteers: coach.”
22Case study - The Hidden Gardens
The Hidden Gardens, a community garden in Pollokshields Glasgow held a volunteering
event which aimed to raise the profile of different community and voluntary groups
and inspire people to sign up to a volunteering ‘time-bank’. Themed around the
Commonwealth and Volunteering and held on Mandela Day as part of Festival 2014, the
event successfully showcased the work that volunteers currently do in the community as
well as highlighting opportunities for people to get involved. By inviting volunteers to
come and deliver activities or workshops and just chat with visitors, the group were able to
personalise volunteering and show the sociable side of it:
“We felt there sometimes is a perception about volunteering as something people
don’t have time for but actually it can be as little or as much as you want to do.
We wanted to showcase examples of what people do to volunteer, whether that’s
considered formal or informal it might inspire people to think ‘you know there’s
folk here today who’ve volunteered and they’re having a great time, they’re making
friendships’, there’s a real social side to volunteering, so we thought we’d try to
celebrate and promote that”
The Hidden Gardens effectively tested a new model of volunteer recruitment by delivering
an interactive event which celebrated volunteering and broke down the formality of the
typical recruitment process:
“Typically volunteering opportunities are promoted online or like a careers
convention, a town hall is booked and people set up stalls but it’s quite passive. The
level of success of that model would be interesting to test in comparison to our event
which was very vibrant and tangible, in that people who were volunteering on the day
could talk to people who were thinking about volunteering.”
A film of the event, co-produced with volunteers, was screened in November, providing
an opportunity for organisations and volunteers, old and new, to meet up post Games and
plan further initiatives. The groups’ success has been noted by others in the voluntary
sector, such as Volunteer Glasgow, who attended the event and have shared the learning
from this new model with the Legacy Forum.
23Whilst our small grants funding has supported Our funding has helped to overcome some of these
volunteers to some extent, we have more evidence of barriers and increased access to activities for rural or
our contribution to a volunteering legacy through isolated communities:
more targeted external programmes such as the “Pupils and members of the community have had
Legacy 2014 Volunteer Support Pot and Host City access to two new sports. The peninsula is remote
Volunteers – which both specifically focused on and access to sports venues is expensive and involves
volunteer engagement and retention and are travel, including a short ferry journey. Being able to
discussed in more detail later in this report. take part in more new activities is beneficial because
Key Theme 3: Rural and isolated areas everyone starts at the same level of experience. This
For many people living in remote or rural areas, there is gives those who may not have taken part before more
often a limited range of sports and physical activities confidence.”
on offer locally, preventing them from being more “The legacy of the project is the establishment of a
active. Sometimes services and facilities are only sustainable, vibrant and developing cricket club. The
available in nearby larger areas, which people have to club now also has a senior team and we are in the
spend time and money to access. As a national funder process of negotiating to acquire our own home
we were well placed to support projects in rural and ground. The long term impact is a thriving addition to
isolated areas and 2014 Communities funding was the sporting clubs in the rural community.”
successfully awarded to every local authority area in
Scotland (see annex 2 for details).
Case study - Sanday Community Association
The North Isles Sports Day, held annually on the Orkney Islands, usually focuses on elite
athletes from the island, but in 2014 the organisers wanted to capitalise on the publicity
and excitement of the Commonwealth Games to get more people involved. New, non-
traditional sports and activities were introduced and participants competed on behalf
of a different Commonwealth country with medals handed out for winners. By framing
the event as more about fun physical activity than elite sport the organisers, ‘Sanday
Community Association’, successfully attracted participants from different age groups
and genders as well as visitors to the island. The grant holder reported that less active
members of the community felt included and inspired to join in, stating: “It was good
because there were lots of people who never actually do anything sporty at all. It’s a fun
day, everyone is having fun, there’s no pressure so they all had a go anyway.” Crucially, this
newly found activity is likely to continue as some of the more popular activities, like sumo
wrestling, will be included in the annual sport day and there are plans to set up a lawn
bowls club on an ongoing basis.
24Key theme 4: Inter-generational projects actively encouraged parents and carers to
‘demonstration effect’ come along and join in, resulting in increased
An interesting outcome of many projects was that the awareness of the benefits of exercise and a healthy
positive benefits often extended beyond just the lifestyle:
individual who participated directly in the activity. “The children are very aware of healthy eating now
There is evidence of a ‘demonstration effect’, and how to keep fit. They like to go out more rather
whereby the parents and family members of children than sitting at a computer. Even the parents will take
who undertook a new activity also adopted more them out now to local parks and let them get some
positive, healthy lifestyle choices: exercise. We’ve got the children bringing their bikes
“While the programme was going on we spoke to the and scooters to the nursery now whereas they didn’t
kids and parents about the benefits of a healthy do that before. It’s all been very positive.”
lifestyle and took away the ‘this is bad and this is Another project introduced children and parents to
good’ mentality. This has actually led us to run a pilot the simple pleasure of outdoor play:
fitness and nutrition class for parents who wanted to
“Parents and children went outside and got active in
find out more... by having an open door policy, families
the local Glen and woodland area. They met other
from various communities were able to access the
parents, got a chance to talk to each other and school
programme.”
staff informally and realised what is available outside
“By running this programme we have been able to their front door to exercise themselves and their
break down many territorial barriers amongst families children without the need of money. Many do not go
and hope this will then show with the future outdoors and previously would not feel comfortable
generations when they become parents. Also through venturing into the Glen. Many parents and children
feedback from parents and kids we have seen vast are afraid of mess, mud, rain and bugs and the project
improvements in families’ health and well being. Once helped them all to play and feel more confident about
again we hope that this will be passed on to future the outdoors.”
generations.”
As a direct result of seeing firsthand how much their
Although many projects involved one off or short children enjoyed the new activities, feedback
term activities, feedback indicates the emergence of suggests many parents are now proactively looking
longer term benefits for participants, such as for local sports clubs and classes for their children to
increased confidence and awareness of available continue with their new found interests on a regular
resources in the community. In particular, there is basis.
evidence of projects with children as the main
beneficiary group effectively utilising this wider
engagement from parents and family members in
order to sustain the positive impact of the project
work.
We received a high number of applications from
schools and nurseries and a popular idea was to hold a
sports day or ‘mini- Commonwealth Games’ where
the children could try out different activities and
compete in a fun, inclusive way. Many of these
25Key theme 5: Increased wellbeing and Clearly, the experience of participating has raised the
personal development confidence and aspirations of many young people who
Many projects reported an increase in confidence and engaged with a 2014 Communities funded project.
wellbeing amongst participants as a result of doing As we know from research into early intervention and
team activities and socialising with others. This was prevention, introducing positive attitudes and
particularly true for young people who volunteered to experiences at an early age can have excellent long
deliver projects or had the chance to try something term benefits for a child’s resilience and wellbeing. The
new: emergence of these ‘soft’ outcomes is therefore a key
contributor to the legacy of happy, healthy individuals.
“The girls came together from different communities
and they reported that meeting new friends was one Lessons learnt
of the best parts of the pilot. The girls were sign- Engaging applicants through ‘small and simple’
posted and linked in to other local services to approach
continue with physical activity and two young Both Celebrate and 2014 Communities operated as
volunteers got experience of volunteering.” small grants and in fact 2014 Communities was
considered a ‘micro-grant’ programme as it awarded
There are already well known links between physical
small grants of up to £2,000 which did not require
activity and self esteem and by providing the
the same detailed level of monitoring as our larger
opportunity to compete and achieve success,
programmes.
participants learnt valuable life lessons and skills:
The aim for both was to encourage small community
“Many of the children gained confidence in their
groups to apply for straight forward projects that
own abilities and were amazed at their performance
could be delivered quickly and easily. Therefore the
on the Assault Course - particularly scaling the 6
application process and reporting requirements were
foot wall. They realised that being tall/small was not
kept to a minimum to avoid any onerous strain on
the issue but perseverance and attitude were far
grant holders resources, particularly for first time
more important. One of the Downs Syndrome
applicants. This ‘light-touch’ approach was welcomed
children in our supported class was encouraged to
by grant holders with many commenting positively on
join an athletics club.”
the process:
“The outcomes of the project will be further reaching
“I’ve had a really positive experience - the
in terms of improving health and well-being,
application process was easy and there was a lot of
acquiring essential life-skills, including
support throughout”
communication, social tolerance, team-work and
self-discipline.” The simplicity of the process was also successful in
removing the (sometimes) perceived difficulties in
“Long term legacy has been the children being very
applying for grants and in many cases grant holders
active and seeing what’s possible and what they can
were encouraged to apply for future funding:
achieve...The children feel very, very proud of
themselves and what they’ve managed to do and “Applying for the funding was not nearly as
what they’ve attained.” complicated as I had thought. The process was swift
and the people on the other end of the phone were
approachable and exceedingly helpful. I would
definitely consider another project - just need
inspiration!”
26Internally, our enquiries team also found the simplicity was interested in what grant holders were doing and
of the programmes a successful way to engage with built on the ‘feel good’ factor of the Games. An
new customers: outdoor showcase event was planned for the final day
“It was a new opportunity to deliver something that of the Games as part of Festival 2014, but was cut
was ‘fun’. In that, we didn’t insist on a need for short by inclement weather. Nonetheless, staff and
something and it was very accessible for lots of projects regrouped in the Fund’s offices to continue
groups. Also, with it being time limited, it their joint celebrations. The knock-on effect of this
encouraged communities to get involved very level of engagement, staff believe, is a cohort of new,
quickly.” under-represented grant holders that now feel more
able to reapply for funding.
Working differently
A dedicated website was set up for Celebrate at Strong partnership working was another feature of
programme launch, designed by UWS to act as a the successful delivery of Celebrate in particular.
forum for exchanging project ideas, learning and best Working with the Lottery Distributors, but also more
practice. In reality the site did not develop as a home widely with Glasgow 2014 Engagement and Legacy
for user-generated content in the way it was hoped it team, the Festival 2014 team in Glasgow Life, and the
would and case study content and email updates were Glasgow Area legacy groups, as well as intermediaries
largely driven by the Fund’s Communications team. In such as the Scottish Refugee Council, the programme
contrast, Twitter proved to be an excellent way to was appropriately promoted and targeted. Celebrate
share information about grant holders’ events and to was also well integrated with work with local
build interactive relationships. With regular and authorities on QBR planning. However, a programme
proactive involvement of Funding staff promoting title referencing 2014 or the Games directly, had it
events and achievements, grant holders were been acceptable to all parties, would have made a
encouraged to share content which allowed The Fund stronger link to the successful Glasgow 2014 and
to generate significant goodwill. Grant holders in turn 2014 Legacy brands.
used twitter to acknowledge the support of Sustaining legacy through building capacity and
Celebrate, raising The Fund’s profile. connectivity
By attending grant holder events as well as the many While there is clear evidence of how funding at a
receptions, functions and events hosted by Games project level can be a catalyst for longer term interest
partners The Fund made itself highly visible through and engagement, this is only the first stage in
Games time. This was further facilitated by having a achieving a legacy of active, healthy, connected
member of staff seconded to the OC. By bringing citizens. Successful partnership working and improved
their presence and personalities to the fore at capacity of groups is a key to maintaining the
weekend and evening events in the run up to and momentum achieved so far.
during the Games, staff demonstrated that the Fund
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