Bates campaigned for the Olympic Truce for the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games to be taken seriously by the signatories to the Olympic Truce Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. In April 2011, he set out on a 'Walk for Truce' from Olympia in Greece to Westminster, London to raise awareness of the truce and to secure support for its observance at the London 2012 Games. In 2012, Lord Bates received the Open Fields Award from the Olympic Truce Foundation USA for his work in raising awareness for the truce.