Wednesday 18 April 2007

Is Community Dead?

Listen to an ambassador from Britain's friendliest street on BBC Radio Leeds 18th April at 7.45 am

LACK OF TRUST AMONG NEIGHBOURS HIGHLIGHTS NEED TO BOOST COMMUNITY SPIRIT

Confirming concerns that community spirit is in danger of becoming a thing of the past, a new survey has revealed that nearly 60% of Brits confess to never having borrowed anything from a neighbour. Over 35% said that they wouldn't even trust their neighbour to water their plants whilst they were away!

When asked whether they felt that community spirit had decreased compared to fifty 50 years ago, an overwhelming 93% said they feel it has.

All this has prompted Miller Homes to enable its buyers to get to know their neighbours online through a new service being launched this month - www.mymillerstreet.co.uk.

Celebrity psychologist, Geoffrey Beattie explains why we don't know our neighbours as much as we used to, why community spirit is good for the soul and why certain regions are more neighbourly than others.
Plus, for those that can't get to know their neighbours online, he'll give top tips for getting to know the man next door, how to be a good neighbour and how to avoid coming across as a curtain twitcher! (The X LadyM thinks curtain twitching is a very valid pastime)

Did you know?
Scots are the most likely to know their neighbours by name with over 90% saying they know the man next door.
Proving it's not always more friendly up north, residents of Leeds came bottom when asked the same question - in fact over 25% of people in Yorkshire couldn't name the people next door.

Over 80% of Scots also said it was important to know your neighbours, compared to just 68% in Birmingham, 67% in Nottingham and 65% in Leeds.

When it came to community spirit, Cambridge had the poorest showing with a mere 7% of people knowing ten or more people in their neighbourhood. Coventry came a close second with just 13% saying the same followed by Leicester at 22%, Edinburgh at 23%, London and Southampton at 24% and Leeds at 25%.

Proving they're a friendly bunch in Newcastle, over 75% of Geordies said they had spoken to neighbours in the last week

Over half of Midlanders didn't bother to introduce themselves to next door when they moved in with Sheffield, Leeds and Nottingham a very close joint second.

Nearly 20% of Liverpudlians said knowing your next door neighbours did not contribute to a better quality of life - compared to a national average of just 7%

Nearly a quarter of Brits said they would gladly ditch their own neighbourhood to live on Ramsey Street - the fictional setting of long running Aussie soap, Neighbours. The only region where Erinsbrough didn't come out top was Glasgow, where Coronation Street topped the poll.

And finally, one quarter of people in Nottingham said that they didn't consider themselves to be a good neighbour - topped only by Leeds at a sad 26%.

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