Hidden Dorset 2 Highlights Report
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‘ We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’ Winston Churchill Shining a light on local needs We would like to thank the and inspiring following who helped us produce this report: local giving The Spire, High Street, Poole, BH15 1DF. Telephone: 01202 670815 Email: [email protected] www.dorsetcommunityfoundation.org /DorsetCF @DorsetComFnd Registered charity number: 1122113 charity Registered Dorset Community Foundation Introduction Welcome to the second edition of Hidden Dorset. Many of you may remember our first edition in 2015 which illustrated the deprivation existing in Dorset, exhibiting the need for community action and philanthropy. Our aim is that this edition of The report suggests that some of our Hidden Dorset is more than just a strengths can also be the source of our Contents report on how things are. We want it to weaknesses and vice versa. form the basis of an ongoing For example, the general affluence of Introduction 01 commitment to understanding the the county can exacerbate the needs and challenges in the county, to problems of those who are struggling to A County of Contrasts 02 bring people together to tackle those make ends meet, but it is in some of the needs and create a mechanism for most disadvantaged areas where you Main Findings 04 tracking progress and demonstrating will find some of the strongest positive impact. communities. Disadvantage & Poverty 06 We’ll be using Hidden Dorset to inform From existing data we have created this our strategy and improve our grant published summary drawing out Work, Education & Training 10 making, but we want it to have a wider existing issues that we see as the most purpose. Our aim is that it will help important, marrying them to case Health, Wellbeing & Mental Health 14 groups demonstrate the need for their studies of work going on to alleviate projects, start conversations between the problems associated with those Loneliness & Isolation 18 donors and recipients, unite issues and suggesting further questions communities over a common purpose to instigate discussion and debate. Inspiring Local Giving 22 and bring together representatives This is a starting point to help us decide from the private, public and voluntary where we need to focus our attention, Recent Achievements 24 sectors for the good of the county as a to identify the role we at Dorset whole. We realise that this may take Community Foundation can play in Conclusion 26 time but we want to highlight that we making a difference and to inspire see this report as a catalyst for action. others to take action. I welcome your input to this debate and would be delighted to hear from you at [email protected] about any of the To create Hidden Dorset we issues raised. have brought together the latest This is an exciting time for the available statistical data to produce Foundation. We are delighted with the a comprehensive document, report and the partnerships that have available to view on our website at developed during the project. We hope . you enjoy it and find it useful. But the dorsetcommunityfoundation.org true value of Hidden Dorset isn’t just in This research shows that Dorset the information showcased in these is a county of contrasts – between pages, it’s in what we do with it. rich and poor, rural and urban, Jon Yates tradition and innovation. Chief Executive Hidden Dorset II 01 Poole is a busy tourist town, boasting a historic maritime A County of Contrasts history and the second largest natural harbour in the world. It is home to the RNLI and Sunseeker International and its beautiful beaches include the world-famous Sandbanks beach; the most expensive coastal area to buy property in the UK. However, the lives of the elite living in has the highest proportion of older people in its Sandbanks contrasts starkly with everyday life population in Dorset. Nearly 1 in 3 people are age for many residents. Poole was identified in a 2017 65 – 90 and as such need additional support to survey to be the least affordable place to rent a address the higher risks of long-term illness, mobility flat in the UK. Particular neighbourhoods are problems and acute loneliness. severely affected by deprivation such as Poole Town, Alderney and Hamworthy West, and there are 17 areas East Dorset in the top 20% most educationally deprived in performs well across deprivation measures compared England. There is also a growing concern around both locally and nationally, with 48 of its 57 areas in the loneliness; around 3,600 older people may often feel West Dorset top 50% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. lonely in Poole. The Borough has six neighbourhoods is a rural area, home to many attractive market towns Health, crime, fuel poverty, income and employment where a high number of older people aged 65+ and quintessentially English villages. It is steeped in deprivation are all low compared to the local and provide more than 20 hours of care a week. history and culture and boasts the world famous Bournemouth national picture. However, the district also has one of Jurassic coastline. Some might be surprised to know has not only a popular and successful tourism industry the highest gender pay gaps (a difference of £75 in that within this rich heritage many residents are living in Purbeck a poverty trap. Families struggle to access housing and but is home to a thriving financial services and business gross weekly earnings) and next to West Dorset, it has is well known for its natural beauty, including services due to poor public transport and the high cost sector, including a fast-growing cluster of creative and the next highest number of foodbanks in the county, heathland, woodland, dunes & beaches, and the of housing in proportion to average earnings. The digital businesses partly driven by graduates from suggesting there are families living in poverty and internationally renowned Jurassic coastline. Swanage district has the most foodbanks in Dorset. Pockets of Bournemouth University. Despite this prosperity, deprivation amongst relative affluence. These families and Wareham are popular with visitors. Deprivation is particular deprivation are found in Bridport, Lyme Regis, social needs in the district are arguably the most acute are likely to live in areas that score less favourably on generally low and there are fewer children living in low Beaminster, Dorchester, Charminster and Sherborne. in Dorset and many working people are struggling to the deprivation indices, namely parts of Wimborne, income families. Behind this idyllic image, 21 of its 29 Families in these areas can find it difficult to afford basic make ends meet; Bournemouth has the highest Corfe Mullen, Ferndown, Trickett’s Cross and Three areas experience education deprivation and there are living costs and to support their children; the cost of proportion of households in fuel poverty in Dorset at Legged Cross. isolated pockets where residents face disadvantage; travel in such a rural area can prevent young people 12.2%, the most areas in the top 20% most income Langton Matravers has high proportions of rural child accessing further education and other opportunities. deprived and the highest proportion of its population poverty, Lytchett Minster and Upton have a higher who are unemployed. House sale prices and market North Dorset is a rural and agricultural area with attractive, proportion of older people affected by Income rents are closer to what you would expect in London chocolate-box towns and villages and strong deprivation and individuals of Gypsy/Irish Traveller Weymouth & Portland and the many seasonal jobs, zero-hour and fixed term associations with novelist and poet Thomas Hardy. descent have a particularly high risk of unemployment has key maritime connections, a well-established contracts may compound the problems of the working It has one of the lowest crime rates and the highest (1 in 2 people). Once again, it is easy to overlook the tourism and service industry, a beach rated amongst poor. It is also the worst area for premature deaths in self-reported happiness levels in Dorset. However, needs of people facing such the best in the UK & Europe and was chosen to host Dorset, and has the most people over 60 years there are hidden problems behind this charming rural disadvantage when they watersport and sailing events at the 2012 Olympics. affected by income deprivation. scene. Evidence shows high levels of older residents are hidden in areas This outward success is in conflict with the living affected by income deprivation and fuel poverty; the considered to be experience of residents suffering from severe and Christchurch pretty cottage in a quaint hamlet may be hiding an older some of the most multiple deprivation. Weymouth & Portland is the third is home to many historic buildings, a picturesque person who is isolated and lonely, particularly in the beautiful in worst of 324 local authorities in England for social harbour, and Bournemouth International Airport. winter when they may not be able to afford to heat the UK. mobility and has the next most areas in the top 20% It has fewer children living in low income families and their home and are frightened to go outside for Income and Employment deprivation in Dorset, one of the lowest proportions of households in fuel as the cobbled streets become after Bournemouth. It also has the highest proportion poverty in Dorset. Residents achieve the highest gross slippery. The district has the lowest of children living in low income families in the county weekly earnings in the county (4.3% higher than the average weekly earnings in at 20%. It is perhaps no wonder that Weymouth has the national average).