What the village thinks…

Results of a survey on Ashtead's Village

View from hot air balloon

Children on a miniature Train

Easter Rector Bob Kiteley explained that refurbishing St George's Church presents a great opportunity for the whole church to take stock of its role within Ashtead - both in supporting church members and with regard to the community as a whole.

Part of this process is to listen to the community. The Village Day on the recreation ground in June gave the opportunity to use a questionnaire and sample the opinions of a wide range of Ashtead residents.

More than 200 people took the time to answer questions. "A terrific response," comments Barbara Leighton, who helped organise the survey. Questions covered issues that concern local people including employment, health, crime, parenting, loneliness, money, environment and happiness, and what, if anything, the church can do to improve its service to the community.

Crime was the biggest concern with 57% of respondents placing a tick against this heading. Crime was also written by many in answer to the question "What do you dislike about Ashtead?" This result is surprising, given that according to Public Relations officer at Surrey Police, Andrew Probert, Surrey is the safest county in the country and Mole Valley is the safest district of the county. "Crime has consistently decreased in Mole Valley over the last 7 years, with a ten per cent decrease in recorded crime last year," says Andrew.

Fifty-four per cent of respondents said that they were concerned with their health and environment, 44% felt that happiness was of particular concern to them, and 37% felt the same about parenting.

Getting into the Balloon

Vauxhall Balloon

Where should the church be involved? Parenting (71%) and happiness (70%) came out top. Crime (57%), loneliness (56%) and the environment (55%) were felt to be significantly less 'safe ground' for church involvement. This understanding will be extremely helpful for church leaders as they decide on priorities.

The most common answers to the question "What do you most enjoy about living in Ashtead?" were the community and village atmosphere, and a rural feeling. The major dislikes, apart from crime, was traffic. Other issues highlighted by respondents included facilities for the young people, affordable housing and helping/caring for others.

The church has run a number of parenting courses.

Contact the Parish Office to find out when the next one will be.

With regard to faith issues, 68% believed in God and 63% believed in Jesus Christ. 31% either did not believe or did not know.

Bob Kiteley said: "Thank you to the many people who filled in the questionnaire. This will be really helpful as we look at how the church in Ashtead can help address the concerns of local people." Watch this space for more as the church continues to listen to local people and further develop its role in the local community.

Children in tea cup ride

Go to next article - What was it like in Ashtead? 1800-1900 AD

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