Places for people

People make places. Exploring of the make-up of the community is an important step in understanding what people want and need.

You can find out about your community from local census data, which will give you information about a wide range of topics such as the age of residents, household type and size, ethnic groups, economic activity and general health. Alongside information you can gather from analysing data, you can also ask people how they feel about their community, and what they think its strengths and weaknesses are.

62% of people in Wales agree that their local area has a good sense of community [1]. This might come from the welcome people receive, the degree of safety they feel or from the variety of social activities on offer. But what do people in your place say? You can also ask people how they feel about their community through a householder survey. This will give you a view from the people who live there to support evidence from data. Try to identify parts of the community that you need to get input from who may be difficult to contact or to get to attend events. These groups may include children, young adults, disabled groups, ethnic minorities and the elderly. Try to include them and find out what would help and encourage them to take part.