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Over the past 10 years, community engagement across Britain has collapsed. The amount of UK adults engaged in Civic Participation has dropped from 41% to 33%. Similarly, the amount of adults who volunteer once a month has fallen from 27% to 16%.
In a time where 1 in 4 UK adults experience regular loneliness, plans to rebuild Britain’s community spirit should surely be high on all politicians’ agendas. Sadly, this isn’t the case.
For longtime Lancashire volunteer Christine Helm, 79, the recent decline in community togetherness represents the death of ‘the good old days’.
“I’ve volunteered for 30 years now, first as a shop assistant for Save the Children, and now I help out my local branch of Soroptimists.” Christine explained.
“Personally, I think this lack of community we’ve got now, across the country, is really sad. Everything has changed in the past 20 years or so, and more recently with Covid as well.
“I think we need to address it and take this seriously as an issue, because the way we’re going, soon we won’t even speak to our neighbours, let alone help each other out as a community.
“When my husband was alive, we used to go to the village pub twice a week to meet up with friends. Now, it seems as though people prefer to sit at home in front of the TV, which again is a real shame.”
Local pubs have long been viewed as ‘the backbones’ of community life, providing residents with an inviting place to meet, chat and enjoy a drink.
Britain’s pubs have been disappearing at an alarming rate for decades. Since 1980, the UK has lost more than 21,000 pubs, representing roughly a third of all venues nationwide.
The decline has accelerated in recent years. 26% of pubs, clubs and music spaces have closed since 2020, with recent industry figures estimating that 2 venues a day are now shutting their doors for good.
Mark Walsh ran the Running Pump, a pub in the small Lancashire village of Catforth, for 7 years in the early 2000s. Sadly, the Running Pump was forced to shut in 2020 and is now up for sale, with the most recent owners citing Covid, rising costs and dwindling numbers as the reasons for closure.
Speaking to UpRoute about the ongoing community crisis, Mark said: “It’s never been an easy business, running pubs. My dad did it for most of his life, and he did alright for himself. I tried my hand at the Running Pump, but unfortunately I couldn’t make it work.
“I think the main reason why pubs are shutting is because of the people. Some might say about rising costs and things like that, but at the end of the day, if the pub is packed out every weekend, you can usually make it work.
“Sadly, over the last few decades, we all seem to have become more individual, and nobody seems to be as keen to meet up for a pint anymore. It’s sad to say, but I can’t see it changing either.” Mark added.
