Legacy 2013> Fund

Grassroots sport can bring people together and support communities. Despite all the enthusiasm around the 2012 Olympic Games, most funding for community sport ends well before the next Games in 2016. Over 90 people from across the public, private and voluntary sectors gathered at CCLA Investment Management for a business breakfast on 23 July to launch the campaign to create an endowed foundation to support community sport not just for the next few years but for decades to come. The idea was presented by a partnership including CCLA, City Bridge Trust, Comic Relief, Community Development Foundation, London Youth and Trust for London and more, supported by London Funders and all is committed to building a lasting legacy for future generations from London's 2012 moment in the sporting limelight.

A forest of hands was raised when the meeting chair, Ben Scotchbrook of ITN London asked who thought it could and should happen and many participants – from sports and youth organisations, corporates, funders and more – offered practical support and further contacts to take the idea forward, especially to secure future funding to benefit young people.

There is a legacy from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. We heard about its continuing grantmaking from the President of the LA84 Foundation (also an Olympian), Anita DeFrantz, talked about the continuing grantmaking of her foundation, set up with proceeds of the 1984 Games. She reminded us that community sport is inexpensive and produces a massive return. Gold medallist Ed Moses (pictured left) urged us all to make it happen here, and expressed his own sense of urgency to use the enthusiasm for the Games to create a lasting source of support.

Read the feasibility summary here.
Media Coverage:
See Sky Sports News interview with Anita and Ed Moses here.
Also, London Tonight interview with Anita DeFrantz (President, LA84 Foundation & IOC member), Gaynor Humphreys (Director, London Funders) and Jas Hothi (London Youth) here.
Will the Olympics legacy help grassroots sport or focus on the elite?, The Guardian, August 2012

To find out more, email gaynor@londonfunders.org.uk.

“The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games made a promise to the world that a legacy would be left behind for the youth of London and I commend London Funders and their partners for your work in making sure that promise is kept.

“London has the potential to exceed our work. You have transformed a section of the city. But, more is needed than bricks and mortar to create a healthy community. An equal investment needs to be made in the youth of the city. The dividends this will pay will multiply over the generations to come. I wish you success.”

Patrick Escobar, Vice President, Grants and Programs, LA84 Foundation
 

Hands-up: A forest of hands in support of our  campaign to create an endowed foundation to support community sport

Opening image: http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/learni...