The question of legacy is one that is debated during every major sporting event. How can we make sure that everyone feels the benefit of an event like the Commonwealth Games, which lasts just a few weeks? Even more importantly, how do you create a legacy for the most disadvantaged and hardest to reach communities in the UK?

This is why we set up a residential camp in Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games in partnership with Spirit of 2012 and the Welsh Government. It gave 1,000 young people from over 80 StreetGames projects in disadvantaged communities the opportunity to experience the incredible atmosphere of the Games.

They came from all over the UK, as far afield as Hastings, Newport, Plymouth and more locally from Scotland. They not only had the chance to see the top-class athletes in action but also took part in sports sessions at the camp just outside of Glasgow.

For many of these young people, it was the first time they'd left their home town, let alone been to a major sporting event. Many of them hadn't camped before, which was an exciting experience in itself. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that few of them will forget. The comments of one girl summed it up perfectly: "The rugby sevens game was amazing! I've never been a rugby fan, but now I'd definitely watch it again!"

Children from disadvantaged communities were given the chance to take part in sports sessions during Glasgow 2014 ©Getty Images for Coca Cola



This is a model we know can be really powerful to broaden horizons. We first experimented with it around the London 2012 Olympic Games, when we gave 1,800 disadvantaged youngsters the opportunity to watch top-class live sport through our "Give and Go" programme. These events give young people the chance to meet people from different communities with similar backgrounds. It gives them something to look forward to and something exciting to take back to their friends and family at home.

But the spirit of the Games can't just stop after the Closing Ceremony. It's important that even those who didn't see the events live still get the chance to emulate the stars and take part in sport at home. One way we're doing this is by running 200 Pop Up Clubs in local communities that are bringing Glasgow 2014 to 14,000 young people's doorsteps both before and after the Games.

Just two weeks ago in Wigan, a local festival brought 100 young people from different communities and postcodes together to try a range of sports and mix with youngsters from similar backgrounds. It's important - one lad said that his favourite part of the experience was "meeting new people from all over and having to be in a completely new environment with so many activities".

Supported by Spirit of 2012, the sessions are giving young people the chance to take part in some of the events that gripped the nation in July, such as athletics, table tennis, rugby and badminton. The young people involved are able to get their own slice of the Games in their local communities and continue the legacy.

We want to create a sustainable legacy from major events such as Glasgow 2014 ©Glasgow 2014 Ltd via Getty Images



These sporting opportunities can often be out of reach for those in disadvantaged communities, both geographically and financially. The beauty of Pop Up Clubs is that they can be set up anywhere. A badminton net can be set up in a park or a game of table tennis can be created from any surface with a pop up net.

We know from speaking to young people that this is the kind of sport they want - a vibrant and varied offer that requires little commitment and is more social than competitive. By taking sport to their doorstep, you can make sure they don't miss out on the chance to get active.

It's not about running sessions for the few weeks of the Commonwealth Games, we want to create a sustainable legacy that keeps young people active for years to come. By helping local volunteers gain coaching qualifications, they can lead their own clubs from the ground up. We know that this approach works from the experiences of the young people we work with as part of our Training Academy.

One young lad we know from Glasgow used to get in trouble with teachers and the police before he started volunteering at his local club. He's now become a real role model for other young people in the area and thinks nothing of giving up his weekends to run sports sessions. This grassroots approach doesn't just benefit the volunteers themselves, but makes a lasting difference to whole communities.

Glasgow 2014 is just one of several major global sporting events that have come to the UK in recent years, and won't be the last. It is crucial these events are inclusive of everyone, from every background and provide more than just venues and physical infrastructure. It's about creating a human legacy of inspired young people, better able to cope with the challenges they face and motivated to make sport and physical activity a part of their everyday lives.

The Commonwealth Games have provided the inspirational platform, it is now essential we turn this into a sporting habit for life in every community.

Jane Ashworth is chief executive of StreetGames. If you would like to support StreetGames' Give and Go initiative, you can find out more here.