• 6 months ago
A study of over 2,000 adults from across the UK has revealed Northern Ireland as the region with the most community pride.
In the research conducted by SPAR UK as part of their Community Cashback campaign for 2024, the survey showed that 83% of respondents were either very or fairly proud of their local area, followed by London (75%) and Scotland (73%).
The survey also showed that those in Northern Ireland "feel like they are a part of their community" the most, with over two thirds (61%) saying they strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement.
Transcript
00:00 SOS Bus is a charity that's been working on the streets of Belfast for 17 years.
00:04 Our amazing volunteers support the most vulnerable people in our city. We do this
00:09 by relieving the pressure off the emergency services, by providing a safe
00:13 space at Shaftesbury Square at our big SOS Bus and by travelling across the city
00:16 in our response vehicles, responding to calls from the police, the emergency
00:20 services and members of the public. Well on a typical Friday and Saturday night
00:24 we come across clients from all walks of life. We help clients who are under the
00:30 influence of alcohol or drugs. We have dealt with people and signposted people
00:36 who are victims of domestic violence. We also provide on the street cover. We are
00:41 out walking around the streets of Belfast providing tea, coffee, water and
00:45 clothes to the homeless and also sleeping bags if necessary. The majority
00:51 of our clients would be under the influence of alcohol, although we have
00:54 seen a spike in the last two years of those under the influence of drugs and those
01:00 overdosing which has led us to carry naloxone in our walkabout bags at all
01:04 times now. The service that we provide on a Friday and Saturday night isn't cheap
01:08 to run. There is maintenance of our large bus, there is maintenance of our mini bus
01:13 and there's also the cost for resources for maintaining our defibrillators for
01:19 replacing naloxone and with the use of these mini buses which the funding is
01:22 essential for we're able to go out and actively seek those who need the help
01:26 and if necessary use the mini buses to either transport them to our large bus
01:30 to a safe place or to bring them home or somewhere to stay for the night. As a
01:35 charity we rely on donation from the public and from corporate sponsors. In
01:39 2023 we were delighted to receive funding from the SPAR and I community
01:42 cashback program to keep our essential services on the road along with our
01:46 buses. It's generous funding like this that allows us to equip our volunteers
01:50 with life-saving defibrillators, radio communication equipment and it goes
01:54 towards the refurbishment of the SOS vehicles including our SOS response mini
01:58 buses to provide a better service on the streets of Belfast. So if you are a
02:02 charity that does rely on donations and doesn't get the government funding then
02:05 I would strongly suggest that you get involved with this scheme because it's
02:09 incredibly worthwhile and it keeps us providing the services that we can for
02:13 our service users and to provide safety on the streets.
02:17 you
02:19 you
02:21 you
02:23 (gentle music)
02:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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