Food & Health Alliance

However research previously carried out by The Centre for Sport, Physical Education and Activity Research SPEAR highlighted that the role and potential of the Games should be seen in terms of wider initiatives and strategies, with two very different approaches required depending on whether the aim is to get those who currently (or have previously) participated in sport to participate a little more, or to encourage the least active to think about becoming active. One of these processes focuses on sport, and is called the demonstration effect, while the other focuses on broader physical activity, and is called the festival effect.

An Evidence Based Guide:

Having commissioned the original research, the Department of Health were keen to explore further how the evidence base might be translated into practice. To facilitate this, SPEAR were commissioned to develop an evidence-based guide to inform strategy and practice for developing a physical activity, sport and health legacy from the 2012 Games. This guide, Active Celebration: Using the London 2012 Games to get the Nation Moving provides an overview of the demonstration and festival effect processes mentioned above, and demonstrates how these processes can match values associated with the Olympic and Paralympic Games with the values of target groups through initiatives with Olympic and Paralympic themes. In short, Active Celebration not only answers key questions like how the Games can inspire people to be more active and how to support to those with most to gain (i.e. the least active), but also provides evidence-based suggestions for a range of initiatives which show how these recommendations can be put into practice.

• Active Celebration: Using the London 2012 Games to get the Nation Moving - Introduction and Overview
• Active Celebration - Demonstration Effect Initiatives
• Active Celebration - Festival Effect Initiatives