When times are tough, communities pull together. But which parts of the country can claim to be the most caring? To find out, PensionBee compared major towns and cities across England on a range of factors relating to their community spirit, charitable contributions and efforts to look after the environment.
Taking all of the factors into account, here are the top three most caring towns and cities in the country. Interestingly, just one northern city (Manchester) made it into the top ten. All of the top five can be found in the south.
Earning the top spot is Norwich, Norfolk, ranking the highest on two separate factors; the ratio of animal shelters (12 per 100,000 people) and charity shops (50 per 100,000 people), as well as scoring highly for many other factors.
In second place is Reading, Berkshire, which is the top-scoring town for both the number of registered charities serving the town (575 per 100,000 people) and the number of people seeking out volunteering opportunities online (1,502 per 100,000 people). It’s also the second happiest place on the list.
Rounding off the top three is another town in the south. Swindon scored highly for its low rate of fly-tipping incidents (646 per 100,000 people), as well as for the adoption of electric vehicles (4,864 per 100,000 people) and for the overall happiness in the town (7.5 out of 10).
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Rank |
Town/City |
Region |
Environment |
Community |
Charity |
Overall |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Environment
Community
Charity
We analysed 30 of the most populated towns and cities in England (unfortunately, comparable data was not available for areas in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and gave each a normalised score out of 100 on the following nine factors. We then took an average of these nine scores for each place to determine its overall score out of 100, with each of the nine scores being weighted equally.
The percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting in 2018-19, according to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ annual results tables for local authority collected waste (ENV18 - Table 3). (view source)
The number of reported fly-tipping incidents per 100,000 people in 2018-19, according to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ latest figures on fly-tipping incidents and actions taken in England (ENV24). (view source)
The number of registered plug-in cars and light goods vehicles registered per 100,000 people at the end of 2020 Q3, according to the Department for Transport’s data on registered vehicles (VEH0131). (view source)
The mean answer given by those asked “on a scale of one to ten, how happy did you feel yesterday?” according to the Office for National Statistics’ annual personal well-being estimates, April 2019 to March 2020. (view source)
The number of ‘animal welfare societies’ per 100,000 people in the local area, according to Yell (as of 7 January 2021). Note that the number of societies is only provided as a guide as to which areas are the most caring when it comes to animal welfare, with many other factors not mentioned here also having an effect. (view source)
The number of households assessed as homeless per 1,000 households, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s official statistics on statutory homlessness in England: April to June 2020. (view source)
The number of charity shops per 100,000 people in the local area, according to Yell (as of 7 January 2021). (view source)
The number of registered charities that work in the local area according to the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ register of charities. Charities that are based in the local area but serve the whole country are excluded. Note that the number of charities serving Northampton and Norwich were unavailable, so we took the numbers for the counties they’re located in (Northamptonshire and Norfolk) and calculated the rate per 100,000 people using the populations of these counties. (view source)
The annual number of searches made per 100,000 people relating to ‘volunteering’ between December 2019 and November 2020 according to Google Ads’ Keyword Planner. (view source)
The percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting in 2018-19, according to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ annual results tables for local authority collected waste (ENV18 - Table 3).
The number of reported fly-tipping incidents per 100,000 people in 2018-19, according to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ latest figures on fly-tipping incidents and actions taken in England (ENV24).
The number of registered plug-in cars and light goods vehicles registered per 100,000 people at the end of 2020 Q3, according to the Department for Transport’s data on registered vehicles (VEH0131).
The mean answer given by those asked “on a scale of one to ten, how happy did you feel yesterday?” according to the Office for National Statistics’ annual personal well-being estimates, April 2019 to March 2020.
The number of ‘animal welfare societies’ per 100,000 people in the local area, according to Yell.
The number of homelessness services such as accommodation, advice, day centres, health services and housing departments per 100,000 people according to Homeless Link.
The number of registered charities which work in the local area according to the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ register of charities. Charities which are based in the local area but serve the whole country are excluded. Note that the number of charities serving Northampton and Norwich were unavailable, so we took the numbers for the counties they’re located in (Northamptonshire and Norfolk) and calculated the rate per 100,000 people using the populations of these counties.
The annual number of searches made per 100,000 people relating to ‘volunteering’ between December 2019 and November 2020 according to Google Ads’ Keyword Planner.
