The Interplay of Volunteer Values, Circumstances & Experiences in Promoting a Volunteering Legacy: Learning from London 2012 Games

The UK Government saw the hosting of the London 2012 Games as an opportunity to develop a post-event volunteering legacy. This was sought to be achieved by harnessing the enthusiasm of the 70,000 volunteers involved through encouragement and support to mobilise their efforts to benefit the wider community beyond the event. The extent a volunteer legacy was realised is questionable, though. This is attributable to the lack of planning and strategic objectives for a volunteer legacy as well as the focus of organising committees in the delivery of the event instead of legacy creation. However, a person’s circumstances, experiences and values may also underpin motivation to volunteer and continuity in volunteering. This presentation will seek to examine the determinants of a volunteering legacy following volunteers’ involvement with London 2012 Games, and the impacts of volunteers’ experiences at the Games on their values, self-identity and future volunteering. A sample of 77 individuals who served in London 2012 as volunteers were contacted approximately four years after the Games and agreed to complete a web-based open-ended survey. The participants were asked to reflect on their London 2012 volunteering experience and consider its impact on their current volunteering engagement. The implications of the findings for a potential volunteering legacy in future mega-events are then explored.