Knowing Your Place
Statistics for Mission
The government publishes an incredible amount of data that could be a tool for mission as well as rich source for developing parish profiles.
Relating official statistic to parishes and deaneries (PDF) says a little about the small areas used for which statistics are available.
Tips for using Neighbourhood Statistics (PDF) shows
- how to get a summary report for a neighbourhood by entering a postcode
- how to find statistics for an ecclesiastical parish
- how to create custom tables, charts and maps
The Table - LSOA Proportions in Parishes (PDF) relates every parish to the smallest areas for which statistics are usually available
Beware, the small areas used for statistics are not consistent in size. They tend to be larger in rural areas than urban. Statistics can be more reliably related to urban areas than rural.
The Neighbourhood Statistics website also gives access to further training and tips on analysing statistics. Other sources of data are listed on our own Links - Information and Statistics page.
Statistics are only one way of getting to know about a neighbourhood. There is nothing to beat local knowledge gained by meeting people, visiting voluntary groups and walking the streets. But figures are often needed as supporting evidence and may even challenge the anecdotal evidence. Statistics can sometimes show up the unexpected. One parish, for instance, found that most of the local young people lived at the opposite end of the parish from the church's poorly attended youth club.
