MLA EAST MIDLANDS LOGO
How to… Develop a Community Profile
A guide for museums, libraries and archives
Updated - December 2006
Disclaimer
Although care has been taken in preparing the information contained in this document,
we do not guarantee its accuracy and MLA East Midlands is not responsible for any
errors or omissions or for any loss or damage suffered by users of any of the information
published on these pages.
This document contains links to outside websites and although we look at all sites
carefully to assess the quality and reliability of content, we are not responsible for them.
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time and we have no control over the availability of linked pages. If you would prefer
that we remove the link to your website from the next edition of this guide please contact
us.
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This document is copyright to Museums, Libraries and Archives East Midlands.
Every effort has been made to comply with Copyright legislation in using extracts from
third parties. However, please contact us if you have any queries or issues.
We are happy for you to print or download extracts of this material for your personal
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Feedback
This guide has been written to help museums, libraries and archives to get to know
more about their community and to develop a community profile which is useful to their
organisation. We welcome your comments and feedback so that we can review and
improve the support we provide.
If you have any comments or feedback on this guide, please contact
Isobel Ashford
Access and Audience Development Officer
MLA East Midlands
56 King Street
Leicester
LE1 6RL
Tel 0116 285 1361
email isobel.ashford@mlaeastmidlands.org.uk
2
Contents
Page
Section 1
Background information
What is the purpose of this guide?
What is a community profile?
Why do you need a community profile?
Links to MLA toolkits
How do you define the catchment
of your community profile?
4-9
4
4
5
6-7
8-9
Section 2
How to use this guide
10
Section 3
Outline content of a community profile
11
Section 4
How to develop your community profile
12-34
Step 1
Define your community(ies)
13
Step 2
Find out if you have relevant information
13
Steps 3 and 4 Has someone already collated the information
you need?
13
Step 5
How to find the information yourself
Step 6
Write your community profile
34
Appendix 1
Sample community profile
35
Appendix 2
Has someone already collated the
information you need? (in detail)
36
Appendix 3
Sources of data with an East Midlands or
national focus
37
Appendix 4
Community profiles on the web
38
Evaluation form
14-34
39-42
3
Section 1
Background information
What is the purpose of this guide?
This guide has been written to help museums, libraries and archives to find information
about the community(ies) they serve and to help them write a community profile which
can inform the development of their service.
What is a community profile?
A community profile provides a variety of information about people and/or
organisations, usually based on their geographical location.
This type of profile can include information such as age, gender and ethnicity,
employment status and access to private/public transport (see page 11).
A ‘community of interest’ can be defined as a group of people sharing a common
characteristic or experience other than their geographical location, for example, their
age, ethnicity, work status, sexuality etc or a shared interest, for example, vintage cars
or classical music.
In order to profile communities of interest using this guide, you would need to produce a
community profile for each geographical area in which your community of interest is
based and then combine the information into one, larger profile.
See MLA East Midlands’ How to... Write an Audience Development Plan available from
www.mlaeastmidlands.org.uk for more information on audience profiles.
4
Why do you need a community profile?
A community profile can help your organisation in many ways.
 It will help you to define who you need to talk to or consult with if you are planning
to develop your service. It will help you to ensure that your consultation is
balanced in terms of who you talk to in your community. For example, if the
population of your community is 50% male and 50% female the sample of people
you consult should probably also be 50% male, 50% female.
 It will provide you with a guide to help you in the development of services. For
example, if your community profile shows that you have a large number of
unemployed people or people over 65 years old in your community this will
probably affect the type of services you offer.
 It will also provide you with intelligence that you can use to inform your
recruitment activities for staff, volunteers, ‘friends’ groups etc by enabling you to
identify different characteristics of the population. For example, age, access to
public transport and ethnicity.
 It could include information about businesses and other potential sponsors or
funders and can therefore help to inform sponsorship or partnership development
work.
 It can help in the development of particular areas of work, for example, research
for a community history project.
 It can provide information about potential partner organisations. This, in turn,
could open up or improve communication channels to hard-to-reach audiences.
 If undertaken periodically, it can provide information to reflect the changing
nature of the communities your organisation serves.
 It can also help your organisation to identify and address gaps in your
collections or services by providing knowledge and information about
communities who are currently under-represented.
5
Links to Inspiring Learning for All and Access for All
Inspiring Learning for All
The detailed knowledge of your community illustrated within a community profile is a key
aspect of MLA’s learning framework, Inspiring Learning for All, and this guide supports
all sections in the framework:
Section 1 People
1.1 Do you engage and consult with a broad range of people to develop learning
opportunities?
1.2 Do you provide opportunities for people to learn?
1.3 Do you broaden a range of learning opportunities to engage with new and diverse
users?
1.4 Do you stimulate discovery and research?
1.5 Do you evaluate the outcomes of services, programmes and activities?
Section 2 Places
2.1 Do you create environments that are conducive to learning?
2.2 Do you develop staff to provide support for learners?
2.3 Do you promote the museum, library or archive as a centre for learning, inspiration
and enjoyment?
Section 3 Partnerships
3.1 Do you identify suitable partners and evaluate the benefits of working in partnership
to support learning?
3.2 Do you work with partners to plan and develop learning opportunities?
3.3 Do you invite contributions from outside the museum, archive or library to broaden
the range and appeal of learning opportunities?
Section 4 Policies, plans, performance
4.1 Do you identify and seek to influence local, regional and national initiatives relating
to learning?
4.2 Do you respond to local, regional and national initiatives in your plans and priorities?
4.3 Do you demonstrate that your museum, archive or library is a learning organisation
through your staff development and evaluation processes?
For more information about Inspiring Learning for All go to
www.inspiringlearningforall.org.uk or contact MLA East Midlands
Telephone 0116 285 1350 or email info@mlaeastmidlands.org.uk
6
Access for All
The familiarity with your community demonstrated within a community profile is a key
aspect of MLA’s Access for All self-assessment toolkit and this guide supports all the
goals outlined in the toolkit:
An accessible organisation will…
Goal 1 Ethos… have an ethos that demonstrates respect, understanding and sensitivity
towards the diverse needs of all users and potential users.
Goal 2 Policy and Planning… have a policy and planning process which outlines aims,
objectives and practices relating to equal access.
Goal 3 Collections… develop collections, stock and resources that take all users and
potential users into account, seeking to engage their interest and celebrate diversity.
Goal 4 Users and Potential Users… actively consult a diverse range of users and
potential users to ensure that services provided meet their needs.
Goal 5 Marketing and Publicity… have marketing and publicity processes that identify
and promote its collections and services to all users and potential users.
Goal 6 Staffing and Training… ensure that its recruitment, retention and training
supports service provision to all users and potential users.
Goal 7 Partnerships and Networking… be outward looking, proactive and responsive
in networking and forming links with other domains, organisations and agencies.
For more information or to download a copy of the MLA Access for All Toolkit go to
www.mla.gov.uk/website/policy/Inclusion/MLA_Activity_on_Social_Inclusion
Checklists
MLA has also produced two self-assessment checklists linked to Access for All that
relate to working with specific audiences.
To download a copy of MLA’s Checklist 1: Disability Access for Museums, Libraries and
Archives go to www.mla.gov.uk/website/policy/Diversity/People_With_Disabilities
To download a copy of MLA’s Checklist 2: Cultural Diversity for Museums, Libraries and
Archives go to www.mla.gov.uk/website/policy/Diversity/Cultural_Diversity_Checklist
For more information about the Access for All toolkit or checklists contact MLA East
Midlands. Telephone 0116 285 1350 or email info@mlaeastmidlands.org.uk
7
Defining the boundaries of the community
Are you an existing organisation?
You may find that a good way to start the process of defining the catchment for your
community profile is to look at the information you have about your current users and
where they live.
This analysis might also indicate that usage of your service is affected by factors such
as road links or drive time, the location of leisure or shopping facilities, work patterns
etc.
eg A community library
Information about users of the library indicates that there are high levels of
usage from residents in neighbouring wards and that patterns of usage indicate
that the library serves residents in three wards.
Staff at this library may decide that they need to profile the community in the
ward where the library is situated as well as carrying out a profiling exercise for
the other two wards (and a combination of all three). This would reflect actual
usage patterns of the service.
It is also likely that the library service will want to combine all their site-based
profiles into one service-wide community profile.
Are you a new organisation?
If your service/organisation is not yet open, information about current users is obviously
not available. In these circumstances, an example, from the cinema industry, of how to
approach defining the catchment of your profile can be found in Chapter 3
‘Understanding Audiences’ of ‘At a Cinema near you’ (bfi, 2002) available at:
www.bfi.org.uk/filmtvinfo/publications/practical/cinemanearyou.html
NB
Most of the information about communities that you will find in the sources
outlined in this guide is available in terms of ward or local authority boundaries.
You will probably need to use these boundaries as a guide to establishing your
own catchment area otherwise it may prove difficult to find sources of relevant
information.
8
Profiling more than one community
You may want to develop various community profiles, including ones for:
 your local community, in terms of paid staff
(to find out if the make-up of your staff matches that of your local community),
 your local or wider community for volunteers
(to identify any potential for volunteer development activities),
 a wider community, eg, regionally/large local cities in terms of physical visitors
to the site (see examples in ‘Why do you need a community profile?’ on page 5),
 communities of interest who are dispersed over a wide geographical area,
 people using outreach elements of your service,
 people using your service remotely (eg, gaining access via a website),
 ‘friends’ groups,
 people depositing material with your service.
How you define your community is closely linked to your audiences (existing and/or nonusers). See MLA East Midlands’ How to... Write an Audience Development Plan
available from www.mlaeastmidlands.org.uk for more information on profiling your
audiences.
Community profiling and audience development
A key aspect of audience development planning is developing services to address the
needs and wants of your existing or potential audiences.
A community profile can help you to identify who your potential audiences or non-users
are and will also give you an indication of the characteristics of your existing audiences.
See MLA East Midlands’ How to... Write an Audience Development Plan available from
www.mlaeastmidlands.org.uk
9
Section 2
How to use this guide
This guide:
 provides an outline of what to include in a community profile,
 can help you to write a complete community profile,
 provides pointers to sources of information which will help you to fill the gaps in
your knowledge about your community,
 provides information about which organisations to talk to about your community.
How detailed you make your community profile will depend on what you need to know
and how you plan to use the information.
What if the information isn’t relevant?
Not all the sources of information in this guide will be appropriate to every organisation –
but this guide is designed to act as a useful starting point for any organisation wishing to
find out more about their local community.
You don’t need to include everything!
Permission to use/copy data
Please note that in order to use much of the information from the census and other
government sources you need to obtain a licence. You can do this online. Information
about any requirements associated with licences can be found on the census and Office
of National Statistics (ONS) web pages at www.statistics.gov.uk/copyright.asp .
10
Section 3
Outline content of a community profile
General introduction
Content: geographical location of the area including size, landscape, etc
Length: maximum one A4 page
Information about your community
Content: a variety of information to gain a clear picture of your community (see below)
Length: depends on your needs, the size of the community, the number of topics etc
Community profiles include information about a variety of topics. You don’t need to
include everything, though be wary of ignoring areas you feel aren’t relevant without
discussing this with colleagues or others first. Choose information which is useful and
appropriate to the needs of your organisation.
1. People


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




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


2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Resident population
Gender
Age
Marital status
Ethnic group
Religion
Place of birth
Population density
Population migration
Health
Disability
Deprivation/Socio-economic classification
Other sources of information including community or interest groups
Transport
Crime
Housing
Economic statistics
Education and skills
Rural issues
Leisure
Observations/analysis
Content: after collating the information above you’ll need to make some observations
Length: a few sentences/short paragraphs for each topic (see appendix 1)
11
Section 4
How to develop your community profile
Step 1
Discuss with colleagues in your organisation
and agree the community(ies) you want to
find out about and the geographical
area(s) you will be looking at
Step 2
Do you have up-to-date information about your
community(ies) covering the topics listed on page 11?
.
YES
SOME
Find out how
you can fill
the gaps
NO
Step 4
Has someone else
collated this information?
(see list in appendix 2)
YES
Check that you can use
this information and in
what format it can be
made available to you
NO
Step 3
Has your local authority
collated this information?
(see list in appendix 2)
YES
Check that you can use
this information and in
what format it can be
made available to you
NO
Step 5
See pages 14-34 for
details on how to find the
information yourself
Step 6
With the up-to-date information you have about your community(ies) you can
now write your community profile(s)
12
Step 1
Define your community(ies)
Discuss with colleagues in your organisation and decide the community(ies) you want to
find out about and the geographical area(s) you will be looking at.
Decide what it is you want to know then work out how you can find it out. See pages 8-9
for guidance on defining your community(ies).
Step 2
Find out if you have relevant information
Find out if you have up-to-date information about your community(ies) which includes
the topics listed on page 11. Use the list to identify any gaps in your knowledge.
Step 3 and Step 4
Has someone already collated the information you need?
Before you start working through the sources indicated in step 5, check if someone else
has already collated the information you will need to fill the gaps in your knowledge.
This will not only save you time and resources but it should also help you to develop
partnerships.
The list below includes types of organisations who might have collected this sort of
information or who might want to work in partnership with you.
You’ll need to find out:
 what information they hold,
 if and how you can use this information,
 in what format they can provide it.
Organisations include:
 other museums, libraries and archives,
 your local authority (including their websites),
 local strategic partnerships/economic research partnerships,
 observatories,
 interest groups, including user groups, ‘friends’ groups etc,
 FE/HE institutions,
 local press/media,
 volunteer bureaux,
 NHS trusts.
For further information look at appendix 2.
13
Step 5
How to find the information yourself
Which sources to choose
You may find it necessary to use more than one source of data in order to ‘complete the
picture’.
For example:
 Information about disabled people is available from several different sources in this
guide.
 You may also find it useful to talk to local disability groups or community groups.
You might find that some of the data is too detailed or is irrelevant to your needs so,
ultimately, you may choose not to include it in your profile.
Don’t rely purely on statistics!
Most of the information available publicly about communities is based on what is
available via the Internet, and a lot of this is taken from the 2001 census.
However, it’s important to recognise the limitations of relying on this data as your
only source of information. For example, the definition of ethnicity used in the
census does not help to identify specific ethnic origins or groups, eg, refugees
and asylum seekers, migrant workers, people from specific countries, Gypsies,
travellers or showpeople.
For the purposes of your service you may want to find out more than the
information from the 2001 census and other government sources can provide.
For this reason other references are included in this guide to encourage you and
your organisation to look further afield for the information you require about the
community.
If the information is not available elsewhere, it may be necessary to consider how
your organisation might find out about specific aspects of your community by, for
example, commissioning some research, possibly in partnership with other
organisations.
It’s important to recognise that while statistical information about communities can
be very useful, the personal knowledge and familiarity with your community
gained by ‘getting out there’ and meeting and talking to people cannot be
underestimated.
14
Step 5 (continued)
Getting to know more about the local community
It’s not always possible to get to know the communities in a particular area by relying on
statistics available from websites.
It’s a good idea to get to know more about the local community by:
 talking and listening to local people,
 taking a walk or drive around the neighbourhood/local area,
 visiting the neighbourhood or community centre,
 obtaining literature or contacts about local groups, eg, from the library or
community/neighbourhood centre or from directories such as Yellow Pages,
 looking at maps,
 looking at the local press,
 talking to local interest or community groups.
Involving staff at all levels in your organisation in the process of developing your
community profile may also be a good way of providing you with useful information
about local communities.
By adopting this approach to getting to know your community you are more likely to find
useful information regarding the topics below, than if you were to rely solely on statistical
data available over the Internet. You might be able to find out about:
 key organisations and individuals, including key partners,
 local employers and patterns of employment,
 local housing,
 local transport facilities and usage,
 lifelong learning opportunities,
 relevant organisations or facilities, eg, residential homes, day centres, nurseries,
 leisure opportunities, facilities and usage,
 shopping facilities.
15
Information to include in your community profile
1. People (information based on the 2001 census)
Resident population (including Social Grades)
Source one
ONS Neighbourhood statistics
http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk
What level of information is provided?
You can get information at several levels including ward level, local authority level,
education authority level, parish council level etc.
What information is provided by this source?
2001 Census Area Statistics including:
- age
- social grades
- ethnic groups
- religion
- population density
- dependent children
Health and Care including:
- general health
- limiting, long-term illness
- heath and provision for unpaid care
16
Source two
ONS population pyramids
www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pyramids/pages/64.asp gives data for England
What level of information is provided?
Choose East Midlands from the list on the right-hand of the screen. This links you to:
www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pyramids/pages/e.asp
Choose your local authority district from the list on the right-hand of the screen.
What information is provided by this source?
This source may help you to find out, in a visual way, how your area compares to the
regional and/or national picture for age and gender of the population.
It also gives a more detailed breakdown of age categories (nineteen categories) than
source one (six categories).
Source three
ONS census 2001 profile
www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/e.asp gives data for the East Midlands
What level of information is provided?
Choose your local authority district from the list on the right-hand side of the screen.
What information is provided by this source?
-
the change in population since the 1991 census
place of birth
population density
health (including people with limiting, long-term illness; people who provide
unpaid care etc)
composition of households (one person, married, co-habiting etc)
17
Migration
Source
ONS Census 2001 profile
www.statistics.gov.uk
What level of information is provided?
This report gives you information at various levels.
In Browse by theme choose Population and Migration
What information is provided by this source?
Scroll down for information in Article results, Data results and Product results.
18
Deprivation
Source one
ONS Neighbourhood statistics
http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk
What level of information is provided?
You can get information at several levels including ward level, local authority level,
education authority level, parish council level etc.
What information is provided by this source?
Indices of Deprivation and Classification includes
- Key figures for Indices of Deprivation and Classification
- Approximated Social Grade (2001)
- Indices of deprivation - Local Authority Summaries (2004)
- Indices of deprivation 2004: Homelessness Indicator (2004)
- Indices of deprivation for districts (2000)
Work Deprivation includes
- Key figures for Work Deprivation
19
Source two
The English Indices for Deprivation 2004
www.communities.gov.uk/pub/446/Indicesofdeprivation2004revisedPDF2198Kb_id1128
446.pdf
What level of information is provided?
Summaries at local authority district level (from page 157 of the document, link
above).
What information is provided by this source?
-
employment scale (number of people who are employment deprived)
income scale (number of people who are income deprived)
extent (proportion of district’s population living in wards ranking within most
deprived 10% in the country)
local concentration (identifies ‘hot spots’ of deprivation – as % of district
population)
20
Poverty and Social exclusion
Source
NPI’s poverty and social exclusion data
www.poverty.org.uk/summary/table_regions.htm
What level of information is provided?
Information is provided on a regional basis – East Midlands.
What information is provided by this source?
Statistics of around fifty indicators from income and work to health and education
21
Other sources
People - general
Community or interest groups
Find out from your local library or by getting out and about in your neighbourhood
Children in secure units
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) – statistics for specific, named units so
these are identifiable to your area
www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000409/sfr21-2003v4.pdf
Children with special educational needs
Literacy trust national statistics
www.literacytrust.org.uk/database/senstats.html
Homeless people
- Contact local authority housing and/or social services departments
- Shelter’s East Midlands’ webpage http://england.shelter.org.uk/home/01kk.cfm
Looked after children
- Contact local authority social services department
- The Network facts and figures www.seapn.org.uk/lookedafter.html
- Outcome indicators for looked after children: (September 2005) England:
www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000651/SFR16-2006textv1.pdf
- Children looked after in England (including adoptions and care leavers): 2003-2004
www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SBU/b000552/index.shtml
- Educational Achievement for children in care
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/socialcare/lookedafterchildren/educationalachievement/
Older people
- Age Concern statistics on Older People 2004
www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/CD60F3EDC34A440392974184283723E8.asp
- Which pensioners don’t spend their income, and why? Summary of report
York University (2006) for Dept of Work and Pensions
www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/summ2005-2006/334summ.pdf
Prisons
Various reports/statistics re UK prisons www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/prisons1.html
Local key organisations and individuals, including key partners
Find out from your local library or by getting out and about in your neighbourhood
Relevant organisations or facilities, eg, residential homes, day centres, nurseries, etc
Find out from your local library or by getting out and about in your neighbourhood
22
People - ethnic groups
Guest/Migrant workers
- Local authority housing and/or social services departments
- The Dynamics of Migrant Labour in South Lincolnshire, report on South Holland District
Council project and links to other reports www.migrantworker.co.uk/
- also includes Warwick Institute for Employment Research report Regional Profiles of
the Workforce by Ethnicity and Migrant Workers: East Midlands (2005)
www.migrantworker.co.uk/docs/Ethnicity%20Profiles%20East%20Midlands%20final.pdf
- Home Office report (national) Employers’ Use of Migrant Labour (2006)
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/rdsolr0306.pdf
Refugees/asylum seekers
- Local authority housing and/or social services departments
- Refugee Council www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/index.htm
- Refugee Action www.refugee-action.org.uk/
- ICAR www.icar.org.uk
- Home Office (2003) www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/hosb1104.pdf
Travellers/Gypsies or showpeople
Contact local authority traveller education service
- Gypsies and Travellers: A strategy for the CRE, 2004-7
www.cre.gov.uk/policy/gypsies_and_travellers.html
- Gypsies and travellers facts and statistics www.cre.gov.uk/gdpract/g_and_t_facts.html
People - disability
Registered blind and partially-sighted people
Department of Health (statistics by local authority)
www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/07/23/38/04072338.pdf
People registered as Deaf or hard of hearing
Department of Health (statistics by local authority)
www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/09/81/34/04098134.pdf
Ward level data about benefits Department of Work and Pensions
www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/neighbourhood/neighbourhood.asp
ONS Neighbourhood statistics – various sources of information
http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk
Click on Find detailed statistics by subject and choose Health and Care
User’s guide to disability estimates and definitions Department of Work and
Pensions – www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/ih2003-2004/IH128userguide.pdf
23
2. Transport
Source
ONS census 2001 profile
www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/e.asp gives data for the East Midlands
What level of information is provided?
Choose your local authority district from the list on the right-hand of the screen.
What information is provided by this source?
-
households without car/van
households with one car or van
households with two or more cars/vans
travel to work by car
travel to work by public transport
Other sources
Local transport facilities and usage
Find out from your local library, local transport providers or by getting out into your
neighbourhood.
24
3. Crime
Source one
ONS Neighbourhood statistics
http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk
What level of information is provided?
You can get information at several levels including ward level, local authority level,
education authority level, parish council level etc.
What information is provided by this source?
Crime and Safety includes
- key figures for Crime and Safety
Source two
Home Office statistics
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/crime1.html
What level of information is provided?
Various – depends on report.
What information is provided by this source?
-
crime prevention and community safety
patterns of crime
recorded crime
The British Crime Survey
sexual offending
youth crime, youth justice and the prevention of criminality
Offenders Index Database
review of crime statistics
crime statistics for England and Wales website
25
4. Housing
Source one
ONS census 2001 profile
www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/e.asp gives data for the East Midlands
What level of information is provided?
Choose your local authority district from the list on the right-hand of the screen.
What information is provided by this source?
- number of households with residents
- number of people per hectare (density)
- average household size
- vacant household spaces
- owner occupied
- without central heating and/or without own bath/shower and toilet
- overcrowding indicator
Source two
ONS Neighbourhood statistics
http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk
What level of information is provided?
You can get information at several levels including ward level, local authority level,
education authority level, parish council level etc.
What information is provided by this source?
In Topics choose Housing for information on:
- housing demand and supply
- tenure and condition
- overcrowding
- homelessness
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Source three
Upmystreet.com
www.upmystreet.com/
What level of information is provided?
Commercial website which gives information about localities (by place name or
postcode).
What information is provided by this source?
- a guide to local property prices
Other sources
Local housing
Find out from your local library, local housing providers or by getting out into your
neighbourhood.
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5. Economic statistics
Source one
ONS Neighbourhood statistics
http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk
What level of information is provided?
You can get information at several levels including ward level, local authority level,
education authority level, parish council level etc.
What information is provided by this source?
In Topics choose Economic Deprivation which includes
- key figures for economic deprivation
- economic activity by level of qualifications (2004)
Source two
Labour Market Profile
www.nomisweb.co.uk
What level of information is provided?
Various levels: local authority, ward and parliamentary constituency.
What information is provided by this source?
Mid-year estimates:
- working age population (including breakdown by gender)
- employment by occupation
- qualifications
- earnings by residence
- working-age benefits
- labour demand (including earnings by workplace)
- VAT registered businesses
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Source three
Regional Competitiveness & State of the Regions (2006) DTI report
www.dtistats.net/sd/rci2006/index.asp
What level of information is provided?
Regional and national
What information is provided by this source?
- overall competitiveness
- labour market
- deprivation
- business development
- land and infrastructure
Other sources
Local employers and patterns of employment
Find out from your local library or by getting out into your neighbourhood.
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6. Education and Skills
Source
ONS Neighbourhood statistics - reports
http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk
What level of information is provided?
You can get information at several levels including ward level, local authority level,
education authority level, parish council level etc.
What information is provided by this source?
In Topics choose Education, skills and training for information on:
- educational attainment
- school absence
- enrolment to higher education
- numbers of students.
Source two
Government office for the East Midlands (GOEM)
www.go-em.gov.uk/geographical.php
What level of information is provided?
Choose an East Midlands county from the left-hand side of the screen.
Information is given at local authority level.
What information is provided by this source?
GOEM geographical webpage gives you information about:
- % of pupils achieving level 4 at Key Stage 2 in English and Maths
- % of pupils achieving level 5 at Key Stage 3 in English and Maths
- % of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades A* to C
- average A/AS level point score per pupil
- unauthorised absence rate
- permanent exclusions
- % of respondents educated to at least NVQ level 3
- % of respondents without an NVQ or equivalent qualification
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Other sources
Local schools, colleges, universities and lifelong learning opportunities
Find out from your local library or by getting out and about in your neighbourhood.
Adults with basic skills in literacy and numeracy
- Literacy Trust – national adult literacy statistics
www.literacytrust.org.uk/database/stats/keystatsadult.html#Adult
- Literacy Trust – some regional statistics
www.literacytrust.org.uk/database/stats/adult.html#Somestatistics
Languages spoken at home
Literacy Trust national summary uses a bottom-up method to count the number of pupils
in schools requiring support in this area to estimate the distribution in the local
community
www.literacytrust.org.uk/Research/lostop3.html
Young people
DfES statistics – information on employability, qualifications etc
www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/search1.shtml
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7. Rural Issues
Source one
Countryside Agency statistics on access to key services
www.countryside.gov.uk/Images/East%20Midlands_tcm2-16195.xls
What level of information is provided?
This information is available at ward level.
What information is provided by this source?
Access to the following services:
- doctors’ surgeries
- public internet access points
- banks and building societies
- cashpoints
- post offices
- supermarkets
- petrol stations
- primary and secondary schools
- job centres
- libraries
Source two
NPI’s analysis of rural poverty and social exclusion for the Countryside Agency – report
published in December 2002
www.npi.org.uk/proj%20rural%20indicators.htm
What level of information is provided?
This report provides information on a national basis.
What information is provided by this source?
- rural low income statistics
- rural work statistics
- rural education statistics
- rural health and wellbeing indicators
- rural community statistics
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Source three
The state of the countryside in the East Midlands region 2004 – Countryside Agency
www.countryside.gov.uk/Publications/articles/Publication_tcm2-25599.asp
What level of information is provided?
The information in this source is provided on a regional basis.
What information is provided by this source?
People and communities
- rural demographic profile
- health and special needs
- rural crime
Services and lifestyles
- geographical availability of services
- access to affordable housing
- education and training
- rural childcare
- rural mobility
Environment and recreation
- the state of natural resources
- biodiversity
- sustainable land management
- countryside character
- recreation
Economy and enterprise
- business health
- market town prosperity
- employment characteristics
- income levels and distribution
- ICT in rural areas
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8. Leisure
You may find it useful to look into local leisure opportunities, facilities and their usage
including:
- sports
- cinema, theatre, arts
- shopping
- restaurants, pubs, bars etc
- hotels
- parks
- attractions, eg, theme parks
Source
You might need to look at a variety of sources for this information including local
authority websites, information from your local library and by getting out into your
neighbourhood.
Step 6
Write your community profile
The amount of detail you go into will depend on the needs of your organisation.
Don’t forget that you may need to complete more than one community profile for your
service or you may decide to combine your profiles – it depends on what you want to
achieve.
If you want to develop a detailed plan, the outline on page 11 of this guide will give you
an idea of what to include. You could also look at the example in appendix 1 as a guide.
Examples of Community Profiles developed by other organisations are listed in
appendix 4.
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Appendix 1
Sample community profile – the first part…
Community profile for the (fictional) Borough of Pepperford
Introduction
The borough of Pepperford is situated in the north west of the county of Eastshire. It is
predominantly a rural area of rolling hills and valleys. The population is concentrated
around the busy market towns of Dogley Magna and Winckleton Parva with smaller
villages and farm settlements covering the remainder of the borough. Pepperford
comprises a geographic area of 58,342 hectares and is the fastest growing borough in
the county.
Pepperford is well placed for communications to other areas of Eastshire and also
nationally as it has a major rail link and is close to the M1 and M42 motorways.
Resident population
Chart showing figures
Ref to source of data
According to the 2001 census the total population of the borough of Pepperford is
24,000 with 49% male and 51% female residents.
The age breakdown of the borough follows national trends, apart from the 20-24 year
old age bracket, which is lower than the national average.
The low figures for the 20-24 year olds may reflect the lack of FE/HE institutions in the
local area so young people leave to access higher education.
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Appendix 2
Has someone already collated the information you need?
Other museums, libraries and archives
Speak to colleagues in your area.
Your local authority (including their websites)
Most large local authorities have staff or sections who collate information about the
community they serve. Contact your local authority to find out who you need to talk to
and what information they have already collated about your community.
Local strategic partnerships
Some areas of the region have local strategic partnerships which have community
information on their websites.
eg,
Charnwood Strategic Partnership, www.charnwoodonline.net/pathfinder/32818.html
Economic research partnerships
Some areas of the region have economic research partnerships which have community
information on their websites.
eg,
Leicestershire Intelligence, www.lerp.co.uk/area_info2.asp
Observatories or similar organisations
Some areas of the region have observatories (or similar organisations) which have
community information on their websites.
eg,
Lincolnshire Research Observatory, www.research-lincs.org.uk
Northamptonshire Observatory, www.northamptonshireobservatory.org.uk/
Leicester Shire Online Research Atlas, www.lsora.org
Interest groups including user groups, ‘friends’ groups
FE/HE institutions
Local press/media
Volunteer bureaux
NHS trusts
eg, for information regarding Health Action Zones
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Appendix 3
Sources of data with an East Midlands focus
ONS Press release: summary of statistics re: population and migration patterns
www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/press_release_em.asp
ONS Regional summary document (2003)
www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/eastmids0203.pdf
East Midlands Public Health Observatory
www.empho.org.uk/
Intelligence East Midlands
www.intelligenceeastmidlands.org.uk/
Countryside Agency:
The state of the countryside in the East Midlands region 2004
www.countryside.gov.uk/Publications/articles/Publication_tcm2-25599.asp
Government Office for the East Midlands (GOEM)
Employment by sector, eg, agricultural, manufacturing etc
www.go-em.gov.uk/geographical.php
Regional Economic Strategy, Interactive Mapping tool
www.research-lincs.org.uk/lro/xfer/emda/demo/
Data for Neighbourhood Renewal, Dept for Communities and Local Government
Links to other websites which provide information about communities at a
neighbourhood level
www.data4nr.net
Sources of data with a national focus
Statistics and research on tourism
www.staruk.org.uk/
NPI’s analysis of rural poverty and social exclusion for the Countryside Agency – report
published in December 2002
www.npi.org.uk/proj%20rural%20indicators.htm
Wealth of the Nation Report 2006
www.caci.co.uk/pdfs/won2006abridged.pdf
The State of the Countryside 2006, Commission for Rural Communities
www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk/data/uploads/SoTC06_Complete.pdf
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Appendix 4
Community profiles on the web
Restormel
www.restormel.gov.uk/media/adobe/0/t/housingrenewalpolicyBK2.pdf
Somerset
www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/media//5C1E5/scp2003.pdf
Horsham
www.horsham.gov.uk/your_council/your_council_2893.asp
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Evaluation of MLA East Midlands’ guide
How to… Develop a Community Profile
We are going to use the information you give us on this form to evaluate and improve our
series of ‘How to … ’ guides. Please give us as much information as you can.
If you require any further information about this evaluation form or the ‘How to…’ series of
guides, contact Isobel Ashford at MLA East Midlands, tel 0116 285 1361, email
isobel.ashford@mlaeastmidlands.org.uk
Your details
Your name .............................................
Tel ...............................................................
Your email .............................................
Organisation ................................................
Address of organisation .....................................................................................................
Your organisation
Type of organisation (tick as many as applicable)
Museum
Independent
Library
Archive
Local authority
University, school or college
Other ................................ (please specify)
Registered charity
Volunteer-run
Other ................................ (please specify)
1. Why did you feel that you needed to use this guide? (tick as many as applicable)
Relevance to Inspiring Learning for All
Word of mouth recommendation
Contact with MLA East Midlands staff
Relevance to grant application
Link to corporate priorities, eg, cultural strategy, preparation for CPA assessment
Reference in another MLA East Midlands ‘How to…’ guide ……...….. (please specify)
Other………………………………………….…………………………….. (please specify)
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Background to the development of this guide
This guide has been written to help museums, libraries and archives to find out more
about the communities they serve and to develop a community profile.
2. Do you think that the objective, above, has been achieved? (please circle)
Completely
To a great extent
To some extent
Hardly at all
Content and presentation (please circle)
3. Is the content relevant to your organisation?
Completely
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4. Is the level of detail appropriate for your needs?
Completely
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To some extent
Hardly at all
To some extent
Hardly at all
5. Are the explanations helpful?
Completely
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6. Is the guide easy to use?
Completely
To a great extent
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How you used the guide in your organisation
7. Please provide us with the job titles of people who used this guide and explain
their involvement.
eg,
Job title
Access officer
Three middle managers
Five front of house staff
Involvement
Lead piloting process
Working group established to implement
Input/consultation at various stages
8. If you have used more than one MLA East Midlands ‘How to…’ guide is the link
between them clear? (please circle)
Completely
To a great extent
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9. Is there anything that you will now do differently as a result of using this guide?
You personally ……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………….…………………………………………..
……………………………………………………….…………………………………………..
……………………………………………………….…………………………………………..
Your organisation………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………….…………………………………………..
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……………………………………………………….…………………………………………..
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10. What is your overall impression of this guide?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
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……………………………………………………………………………………………………
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11. Please suggest ways for us to improve this guide.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………….…………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Thank you for taking the time to complete this evaluation form.
Please return it to Isobel Ashford at MLA East Midlands or email
isobel.ashford@mlaeastmidlands.org.uk
Data Protection
The details you provide on this form will be held by MLA East Midlands. Information identifying
specific individuals or organisations will not be passed onto third parties without prior consent.
We may occasionally contact you regarding MLA East Midlands events, projects and initiatives. If you do
not wish to be contacted, please tick here.
42
© Museums, Libraries and Archives East Midlands (MLA East Midlands) 2006
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