Written evidence submitted by colleagues at Counsel Ltd. and Loughborough University

Submission from:

James Allen – Founder and director of Counsel. He has wide ranging experience and has worked in a range of senior advisory roles in governance, communications and external affairs. He has worked in sport, in the voluntary sector, as an adviser to corporates in financial services and in a variety of non profit organisations. He has led a number of significant projects across the UK and internationally.[1] 

Verity Postlethwaite – Lecturer in Strategic Event Management. Her research is broadly focused on how events have been used in local, national, and international contexts as a catalyst for social changes associated with disability, gender, and geographic inequalities. Recently, Verity led Loughborough’s team in the Capital of Sport: Feasibility Study.[2]

2. What sources of funding are available for grassroots sport and are they sufficient?

• How can funds be distributed more effectively and application processes be improved?

FOCUS: Use of events                                                                                                                             

Summary: place-based investment and sporting events: could a UK Capital of Sport enable communities to live well? Community-based, locally led and place-based implementation and investment was consistently adopted not only as a research approach but as an enabler of healthy living through sport and physical activity. Placed based investment in sport, social reform through sport and sport based services facilitated local engagement, empowerment and economic growth.[3]

Building on Spirit of 2012’s Inquiry into the Power of Events, Counsel Ltd. and Loughborough University have been testing ideas and concepts for a UK ‘Capital of Sport’ event underpinned by health and wellbeing outcomes.

Background: The event industry in the UK is thriving, with an estimated worth of around £42 billion. Large-scale sporting and cultural events, such as the Olympics, Paralympics, and Commonwealth Games, have demonstrated significant positive impacts on communities. Our study aimed to determine the appetite for a UK Capital of Sport and to identify potential models for its implementation.

Study Approach: We gathered evidence and insights from over 150 voices across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales through public polling, interviews, presentations, and workshops. We also analyzed a range of local to international events and festivals to develop event models and concepts.

Key Study Findings: Our study highlighted several considerations for a potential UK Capital of Sport, these considerations and findings link to a number of questions raised in the inquiry. Alongside a summary, we have included a snapshot of qualitative and quantitative findings to illustrate the considerations.

1. Political Considerations: Successful place-based events have a strong political backing, an emerging trend is for regional and city-based political support to drive this beyond a ‘city of’, for example the Liverpool City Region, Borough of Culture. 

“…to build the structure of something like this and scale it up, it needs to sit with government… and it needs a cross department relevance…” (Feasibility Study Consultee, 2023)

2. Economic Considerations: The event must be affordable throughout its lifecycle, with a mixed investment model. Funds are drawn from a range of different sources, with a growing trend to base an event on a mixed investment model, for example the Great Run events which have a mixture of commercial, governmental in kind, and direct economic support.

“… because every single person, whether they are community, government organisation etc., will ask ‘what’s in it for them?’…” (Feasibility Study Consultee, 2023)

3. Sociological and Sporting Considerations: Clear engagement with beneficiaries in the host community, with a focus on health and wellbeing. The clarity of ‘who’ directly benefits from an event is mixed, with events like the European City of Sport or Britain in Bloom having a clear remit to target community beneficiaries. Moreover, events such as City of Culture reference the presence of health and well-being, but few events embed it as a primary underpinning drive or outcome. 

Out of the ten options, 64% of respondents selected “increase levels of health and wellbeing” as the most important outcome of a major event to them.

4. Technological Considerations: A primary operational model is needed, with organizing committees within existing public infrastructure. A range of legal models were used across different events, ranging from franchises to kitemarks. The longevity and legacy of events does not explicitly correlate with one dominant operational model, however a trend with ‘cities of’ or ‘places of’ is to create organizing/delivery committees within existing public infrastructure.

Evidence and insight demonstrated that to date, events in the UK have underutilised ‘health and wellbeing outcomes’ as a key contribution of an event to hosting communities. 

Evaluations of previous events and festivals reported active travel as an important tool to increase health-based event outcomes. For example, 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.

5. Legal Considerations: Clear accountability and responsibility for different stages of the event. A mixture of centralized and decentralized ways of working in relation to control and accountability, for example the European City of sport model is managed much more as decentralized model, and the pressure is on the host place to comply with regulations and secure long-lasting impacts.

“A successful ‘Capital of Sport’ will be a counterbalancing of interests, often achieved through shared responsibility around a focus outcome or beneficiary group.”

Feasibility Consultee, 2023

6. Environmental Considerations: Sustainability must be integrated at all stages of the event. A growing trend in recent events is to promote sustainability initiatives within the event delivery, however, less evidence found on how sustainability principles were present at the feasbility, bid and planning stages.

Green event idea tested as the most popular in public polling: 

From 5 event ideas, 62% of respondents selected the “greenest” as the most appealing idea to them.

9. How can the Government facilitate better coordination across the sport ecosystem to deliver grassroots and school sport?

• Is the Department for Culture, Media and Sport successfully leveraging the economic and community benefits of sport and physical activity across Government?

FOCUS ON - Health and wellbeing drivers and innovation around building this into a Capital of Sport model                                                                                                                                           

There is clear enthusiasm for this concept, and certainly more enthusiasm than there would be for another event predicated heavily on a physical activity participation legacy. Spirit of 2012 has particular experience and strengths in commissioning successful programmes in this area (for example the Get Out Get Active programme[4]) and, in particular, in successfully gathering and harnessing community preferences and needs. The development of a co-produced local health and wellbeing component should be a bid/award requirement. This advice and expertise is invaluable and should be utilised during the early stage scoping of a ’Capital of Sport’, as far as this is possible.

Examples where partners are currently commissioning such local activities include the following range of activities or interventions building health and wellbeing as a driver into place-based transformation and development.

Commissioned projects and partnerships, such as:

• World Health Organization, Healthy Cities Network, the approach seeks to put health high on the political and social agenda of cities and to build a strong movement for public health at the local level. It strongly emphasizes equity, participatory governance and solidarity, intersectoral collaboration and action to address the determinants of health.[5]
• European Commission, European Week of Sport, each year the European Week of Sport promotes more active, healthier lifestyles to millions of people in Europe and beyond.[6]
• StreetGames Doorstep Sport initiative, At the core of Doorstep Sport is the provision of accessible and affordable opportunities for young people to take part in informal sport within their local community through vibrant, varied, fun and sociable sessions. Effective Doorstep Sport delivery has a strong emphasis on youth leadership, offers personal development opportunities and encourages lifelong participation.[7]
• Laureus Sport Model Cities programme, 2024 marks the 10TH anniversary of the establishment of ‘Sport for Good Cities’.  The concept originated from Laureus Sport for Good’s capacity as a convening partner; bringing together social programmes working in the same areas of a city with a view to making a positive impact on young people’s lives.[8]
• Loughborough Town Deal, working in partnership with local communities, the Active Healthy Living Project will empower residents to identify and address key barriers to engaging in physical activity, helping Loughborough to become a national leader in active healthy living.[9]
• Sport England, Place Partnerships, in order to focus our investment and resources on the communities that need it most, we’re significantly increasing the number of places across England that we partner with.[10]
• Arts Council, Creative People, Getting involved in creative activities in communities reduces loneliness, supports physical and mental health and wellbeing, sustains older people and helps to build and strengthen social ties. People everywhere tell us how much they value opportunities to develop and express their creativity, both on their own and with others.[11]
• International Olympic Committee, Olympism 365, The IOC is collaborating with sport and health stakeholders to strengthen the contribution of sport and Olympism to creating healthy and active communities. This includes increasing people’s access to safe, inclusive and health-promoting sports participation opportunities to improve their physical, mental and social health, while also supporting them to build positive social connections in and through sport.[12]

Further to examples of what works listed above, this feasibility study supports the proposals made in the other Spirit of 2012 strategic commissions around measuring and joining up measures around health and wellbeing benefits.

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