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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

Research shows worth of games’ volunteers

This news post is about 9 years old
 

Efforts by volunteers to make people feel welcome during last summer’s Commonwealth Games have been named as one of the top five inspirational moments of the event.

Six months on, research has revealed the opening and closing ceremonies as the most inspirational of the games (58%), followed closely by the friendly atmosphere in the host city Glasgow (51%) and Scotland welcoming the world during the Games (49%).

Clydesider volunteers were ranked the fourth greatest asset (32%) and the live events at sites around the city including Glasgow Green (24%) fifth.

The research also highlights that 94% of respondents will take steps towards a more active lifestyle in 2015, with more than half of people (57%) committing to regular walks, 40% of people aiming to walk to school or work more often and 38% of people using the stairs instead of the lift in a bid to get more active.

Jamie Hepburn, minister for sport, health improvement and mental health, said: "This marks the six month milestone since the start of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and I'm delighted that Scots are still inspired by the games, which were a fantastic collaboration of sporting and cultural achievements.

This survey is further proof of the positive legacy impact of Scotland hosting the Commonwealth Games - Stewart Harris

"Many people have already made new year's resolutions to be more physically active in 2015 and I will be working hard to increase sports participation and make sure that we get maximum benefit from the legacy of the games."

Stewart Harris, chief executive of sportscotland, said: "This survey is further proof of the positive legacy impact of Scotland hosting the Commonwealth Games.

"At sportscotland we used the Glasgow games to accelerate our plans for a world-class sporting system at every level.

"Supported by investment from the Scottish Government and National Lottery, we now have a very sophisticated sporting pathway connecting school, club, and performance sport.

"The high performance system is the best it has ever been with the sports, athletes, and coaches working closely with the experts from the sportscotland institute of sport and it produced a record-breaking 53 medals for team Scotland at Glasgow - an incredible performance on the global stage.

"Community sport has been given a tremendous boost with 134 Community Sport Hubs operating right across all of Scotland's local authorities and from our £10 million investment into community clubs and regional development officers, and there are now far more and better opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to take part in sport and physical activity."