Swindon in Wiltshire has been crowned the most thoughtful community in the UK, thanks to its community gardening schemes, number of charities, volunteering opportunities and impressive recycling rates.
In order to uncover the research, the team at Bloom & Wild analysed the areas in the UK by looking at five factors, including:
Number of registered charities
Number of volunteering opportunities
Number of community gardening schemes
Recycling rate
Electric car ownership
After identifying the number of opportunities to give back to the community, the team then divided these in relation to each location’s population size and normalised the score to give a ranking out of 100.
While Swindon took the top spot, Bath, Oxford and Milton Keynes weren’t far behind. These areas were also praised for their random acts of kindness during the coronavirus outbreak, plus number of volunteering opportunities.
“It’s incredible to see the level of thoughtfulness so many communities embody. Everywhere, people have been giving back in any way they can. What really stands out to me is the huge number of opportunities there are to give back,” Marisa Thomas, Head of Brand at Bloom & Wild, says.
“From volunteering for your local charity to joining a community gardening group, there’s lots we can all take inspiration from. It’s also so great to see a big rise in environmental efforts, like recycling rates and eco-friendly cars on our roads increasing.”
Want to see if your local area made the list? Take a look at the findings below…
20 of the most thoughtful communities in the UK
Swindon
Bath
Oxford
Milton Keynes
Sevenoaks
Darlington
Wigan
Bristol
Bury
Isle of Wight
Rochdale
Cambridge
York
Wokingham
Cheltenham
Worcester
Manchester
Blackpool
Solihull
Stockport
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