The Community
Wellbeing Index
Places for socialising help to bring people together.
How we measure it:
Distance from outer boundary, with a value of zero if in the community
(© OpenStreetMap contributors)
Babies, preschool and primary school aged children encourage a closer link to the community.
How we measure it:
Proportion of children aged 14 and under in the community.
(Census 2011, ONS)
Older people who live alone may feel isolated.
How we measure it:
Proportion of households that are sole occupants, aged 50.
(Census 2011, ONS)
A higher number of houses being sold suggests that people are not staying within the area, weakening community bonds.
How we measure it:
Proportion of households that have been sold in the community in the previous three years.
(Land Registry)
Poor health can limit interaction and social activity.
How we measure it:
Proportion of the population suffering from long term illnesses or disabilities, categorised as: “day-to-day activities limited a lot”.
(Census 2011, ONS)
A high level of crime can erode trust within a community.
How we measure it:
Total crime counts in the community, per 10,000 population.
Crime data for Greater Manchester is incomplete, as this is not currently available from Greater Manchester Police. Any crime figures that appear within the Index for the Greater Manchester area are those that have been reported by other police forces.
(data.police.uk, IMD Scotland)
Even if the community itself has low crime rates, there may be a low sense of safety if the nearest town centre is a crime hotspot.
How we measure it:
Total crime counts in the nearest city centre, large town centre, major city centre, major urban centre or town centre. This is restricted to the nearest centre within 20km. If there is no centre within 20km of the locale, the indicator has been assigned a weight of zero for the community.
Crime data for Greater Manchester is incomplete, as this is not currently available from Greater Manchester Police. Any crime figures that appear within the Index for the Greater Manchester area are those that have been reported by other police forces.
(data.police.uk, Geolytix Retail Places)
The presence of Neighbourhood Watch schemes within a community promote ‘neighbourliness’.
How we measure it:
The number of Neighbourhood Watch supporters within each community, scaled per 10,000 population.
(Neighbourhood Watch)
Our research identified nine areas that matter for community wellbeing. These are grouped into People, Place and Relationships.
It looks like one of our systems has fallen over.
Our team is already patching it up, so please try again soon.
We care about the wellbeing of our local communities, which is why we are applying a few changes to our postcode search for you to find your local wellbeing score.
You can still find out about the great work involved throughout the Community Wellbeing Index on site.