Cambridgeshire charity's bid to bring back community spirit amid drop-off
A report found less than 4 in 10 people say they're involved with their local community
With less than four in 10 of people getting involved in our local communities in the last year, the boss of a local charity hopes that trend changes.
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) also found one in six people in the UK want more opportunities to engage with their local community, while 52% say they feel proud about where they live.
"It's about feeling connected and proud of your local community," Michael O'Toole, CEO at the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation, said.
"There's a lot of data that shows by putting back into your community, it's good for you and it helps build that pride in a place, which is important."
Barriers to getting involved
CAF’s Local Giving Report aims to show a link between community connection, charitable giving and local pride.
It said people who regularly engage in their communities — through activities such as helping vulnerable neighbours, supporting local campaigns, volunteering or maintaining public spaces — are significantly more likely to donate to charity and volunteer their time.
The research has also found that people who see charities making a visible difference in their local area are twice as likely to donate locally and three times more likely to volunteer.
But many people believe barriers including lack of time, uncertainty about how to get involved and not knowing anyone else taking part are preventing them from engaging more in their communities.
The report comes amid wider concerns around declining charitable giving in the UK after CAF’s findings show people donated an average of 0.9% of their income to charity last year, down from 1.1% the previous year.
"There's a huge goodwill that people have about wanting to do something good for their local community," Mr O'Toole added.
"As long as we can make it visible for them as to how they can help locally and make it as easy as possible, I think they'll want to do that."