(Photo: Getty)
By Oliver Lines
Nearly two-thirds of people in Yorkshire say they feel part of a community, according to new figures.
A study by the Co-operative found that 62% of people in the county said they feel part of the community, however 75% also said they thought there was not enough investment in local projects.
71% of Leeds residents said they are proud of their community, which ranks the city second in the country behind only Plymouth.
Community campaigner Sir Tony Robinson, famous for playing Baldrick in Blackadder, said he was surprised by the figures.
“I felt very pessimistic about it all and I thought people weren’t interested in doing community things anymore,” said the Time Team presenter, who was formerly part of the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee.
“But you read this report and actually the exact opposite is true – people are passionate about their local communities, and the majority are either engaged with local stuff or they want to be.
“This is particularly true of the young because they always get a bad press about community activity, but more young people than any other age group are actually committed to community activity.”
Robinson also believes that community spirit still exists just as much as it has done in years gone by:
“When major tragedies occur, people pull together in the most remarkable way and that doesn’t come out of nothing,” he continued. “It comes from all the years of community activity that have preceded that, which suddenly pays dividends at enormous times of crisis.
“I do think people want to engage in their communities, but there isn’t the money available there that there used to be.”