The evaluation report has been published by the University of Derby on the careers legacy established following the 2012 London Olympics.
The Olympic Games of 2012 will go down in the memories of a generation of British people. For the young people of East London the Games offered a moment when the eyes of the world were on their community and people from all nations came to visit. Four years down the line from the Games the people of East London have now been building on its legacy ever since the closing ceremony.
The young people of East London took part in both the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies and were critical to their success. However, despite its proximity to the richest city in the world, East London remains one of the country’s most deprived areas. Consequently there was a real danger that the young people who participated in the opening ceremony would not benefit from its legacy.
“This project has been incredible to deliver. By drawing upon Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park our delivery team, supported by sixth form team leaders, have brought careers information to life. We are passionate about enabling every young person to make a positive transition into the world of work and believe this project has helped young people in east London take an important step by exploring how they could contribute to their local community by creating a new business.”
Jonathan Harper, Chief Executive of Future Foundations
2015
590 Participants
2014
660 Participants
2013
770 participants
The legacy of the Olympics can be seen in the physical environment of East London. The area has new shopping centres, transport links, parks and businesses. Importantly it also has a new focus for economic development in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The Park was the main hub for the Olympic Games but is currently a focal point for business and innovation in the area. The Coalition Government in 2014 suggested that over £200 million in new trade and investment in the UK were a result of the Olympic Games (UK Government, 2014).
Infrastructure development alone will not transform the lives and careers of the young people of East London. Poynter (2009) in a literature review of previous Olympics highlighted that Olympic Games have sometimes led to ‘gentrification’ with the former residents displaced and unable to share in the legacy of the games. It is in the careers of individuals that this struggle will be played out. If young people are well informed about the opportunities that are being created, and feel empowered to take advantage of these opportunities the legacy of the Games will be ensured. Conversely if young people in the area are unaware of the economic developments around them and their potential place within them, they will be unlikely to share in the legacy.
The London Legacy Development Corporation identified the need for a careers intervention. They commissioned Legacy Careers in 2013 and then sustained funding throughout 2014 and 2015. They commissioned a consortium led by Future Foundations which was able to quickly implement a school based programme of activity in East London.
The Legacy Careers Project (Legacy Careers) was aimed at developing the career aspirations of young people in the four boroughs (Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest) surrounding Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was successfully delivered between 2013 and 2015, and today a report on its impact has been published.
The programme has been robustly evaluated with a report being published following the first year (Marriott and Hooley, 2014) and detailed feedback being presented to the funders and deliverers of the programme following year two (Dodd and Hooley, 2015). A final summative evaluation of the school based programme has been published today which draws principally on data gathered during the second and third year of Legacy Careers. The report concludes that Legacy Careers has provided schools with an impactful, appealing and cost-effective way of delivering a high quality career education programme.
Future Foundations led a consortium supported by Brightside, iCould and CC-Lab, who were selected to develop what became Legacy Careers. The project enables young people to better understand their career options at the time they are making their academic and career choices and aims to equip them with the information, confidence and motivation they need to plan and manage their own careers.
“The programme provided schools with an impactful, appealing and cost-effective way of delivering a high quality career education programme.”
Professor Tristram Hooley, University of Derby
Legacy Careers has now run for three years. Schools enthusiastically embraced the programme and 2020 young people benefitted from it over the three year period. The sustained three year funding for the programme increased the impact of the programme. As the programme developed it has trialled a number of delivery modalities in order to become more polished and efficient.
The pilot programme ran in 2013 as a five day careers intervention that provided Year 8 students with career information and activities, the opportunity to develop a business proposal and time to participate in mock job interviews with business volunteers. In the second and third year of the programme three, four and five day interventions were trialled. Legacy Careers also trialled two ways of delivering the programme: with facilitators from Future Foundations and with teachers as facilitators. The programme included online resources and activities designed by Brightside.
In order for Legacy Careers to take place in a school, the school had to create curriculum space, allocate rooms and deploy teaching staff as part of the delivery. In addition schools made Year 12 students available for training and to act as team leaders and mentors to Year 8 students throughout the programme.
In 2015 Future Foundations trained teachers to deliver Legacy Careers. From 2016 Future Foundations are in the process of finalising the Legacy Careers Information Pack which provides lesson plans to schools based upon the Legacy Careers intervention. The Legacy Careers Information Pack and the 2015 teacher training will address the sustainability by giving teachers training and resources to deliver Legacy Careers workshops on their own. These resources will be hosted on the LLDC website.
“The Legacy Careers project has helped many local young people and external evaluation at each stage has provided valuable input, enabling the project to continually meet the needs of students.”
Michelle May, Director of Socio-Economic Regeneration, London Legacy Development Corporation
Notes to Editors
For more information contact Steph Burns, Senior Projects & Communications Manager at Future Foundations on 0203 432 3450 or steph.burns@future-foundations.co.uk
London Legacy Development Corporation
Formed in April 2012, the London Legacy Development Corporation’s purpose is to use the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of the London 2012 Games and the creation of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to develop a dynamic new heart for east London, creating opportunities for local people and driving innovation and growth in London and the UK.
For more information visit QueenElizabethOlympicPark.co.uk, follow us on Twitter @noordinarypark and like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/QueenElizabethOlympicPark
International Centre for Guidance Studies. University of Derby
iCeGS is a research centre with expertise in career and career development. The Centre conducts research, provides consultancy to the career sector, offers a range of training and delivers a number of accredited learning programmes up to and including doctoral level.
For further information on iCeGS see www.derby.ac.uk/icegs
Future Foundations
Future Foundations (FF) is an award winning independent training organisation. Our mission is to inspire young people to achieve their full potential and become leaders in their lives and within society. We have delivered pioneering training programmes with over 10,000 young people since 2004.
For further information visit: www.future-foundations.co.uk