2023/24 Community Research Index

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The Community Research Index is an annual survey of over 8,000 adults from across the UK. It reveals people’s thoughts about their community – including what makes them proud, and what they are concerned about – and how they would like the future to look.

This year’s results show people’s real enthusiasm for volunteering, sense of belonging, and desire to play an active role in the community. The results also show how communities are responding to current challenges including the rising cost of living and the climate emergency. Importantly, we explore how people have different priorities depending on their gender, age, region, social grade and ethnicity.

The report explores the results of our 2024 Community Research Index in detail, highlighting the key findings, the diversity of responses from different groups, and what the results tell us about how we can support UK communities through 2024 and into the future.

Research for this report was conducted by Savanta, on behalf of The National Lottery Community Fund, between 6 October and 13 November 2023, speaking to 8,976 UK adults weighted to be representative by gender, age, region, social grade and ethnicity.

Date published
April 2024
Contact
pressoffice@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

Research highlights

  • People feel part of their community across the UK. At least six in 10 people (61%) said they feel part of their local community, both across the UK and in each individual country.
  • Half of people plan to volunteer. The majority (64%) of people told us they are willing to work with others to improve their local area, with half (50%) planning to volunteer in 2024.
  • People feel positive about their communities. Respondents rated their local areas favourably in categories including access to green space (80%), overall quality of life (70%), and education opportunities (68%).
  • Communities are motivated to tackle the effects of climate change. Half (50%) told us they feel personally motivated to engage in climate action, and a similar proportion told us they are optimistic that the worst long-term impacts could still be prevented (48%).
  • People are clear on their priorities to help areas ‘level up’. The majority of people told us they want to see increased access to affordable housing (58%) and reduced poverty and deprivation (57%).
  • Responding to the rising cost of living is the top priority for community wellbeing. When asked what was most important for community wellbeing, people’s top three priorities were support with the rising cost of living (30%), looking out for one another (25%), reducing loneliness (23%), and preventing youth violence (20%).

2023/24 Community Research Index (PDF 9 MB)

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