Communities need accessible places, services and networks through which people can meet, seek support and take part in local life. However, many areas of Wales face a combination of high deprivation and limited community infrastructure, leaving residents with fewer resources to help them respond to economic and social challenges.
Building Communities Trust wanted to develop a clearer picture of these inequalities across Wales. It needed evidence showing not only where poverty and disadvantage were concentrated, but also where communities had limited access to the civic assets, connections and opportunities that can support local resilience.
We were commissioned to research, map and rank the strength of community infrastructure across Wales. The work needed to provide a consistent small-area measure that could reveal differences between communities, identify places facing overlapping challenges and give funders and policymakers a stronger basis for directing support.
We developed the Welsh Community Assets Index using a methodological approach informed by our earlier work on the Community Needs Index in England. The index measures the strength of the social and civic infrastructure available to communities across Wales.
The Welsh Community Assets Index assesses communities across three domains:
By combining indicators across these domains, we identified communities with relatively limited access to the assets, networks and opportunities that help people connect with one another and respond collectively to local challenges.
We then developed the Welsh Community Resilience Index by combining the Welsh Community Assets Index with the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation. The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation is the Welsh Government’s official measure of relative deprivation across small areas, bringing together evidence on income, employment, health, education, access to services and other forms of disadvantage.
This combined measure allowed us to identify Less Resilient Areas: communities facing both high levels of deprivation and limited civic and social infrastructure. The analysis demonstrated that many of the communities experiencing the greatest economic hardship also had fewer local resources available to support residents.
We produced the indices at a detailed geographic level and mapped the findings through Local Insight, allowing patterns to be explored across Wales. We also delivered the underlying datasets, detailed findings and a technical methodology paper explaining how the measures were constructed.
Building Communities Trust used the Welsh Community Assets Index and Welsh Community Resilience Index to shape its Community Anchor Development Programme. The measures helped identify organisations operating in Less Resilient Areas, leading to community organisations across Wales receiving flexible funding through a £1.6 million programme.
The programme has since supported greater financial security among funded organisations, new opportunities for peer learning and the expansion of community services. The research has also informed work by Children in Need, been presented to funders and academic audiences and been used by Building Communities Trust to brief Welsh Government officials. The indices have subsequently been referenced by elected members in the Senedd.
Highlight patterns of need that existing measures miss
We’ll work with you to design a dataset that aligns with your organisational goals
Create a consistent measure that helps you monitor trends and understand how patterns change over time
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