Archive for March, 2010

AXA’s Community Challenge Reveals The West Midlands Steers Clear Of Neighbours And Prefers To Drive To Shopps For Sugar

• Six in 10 in the West Midlands, the highest in the country – drive to the shops for a cup of sugar rather than borrow from a neighbour
• We are emotionally distant from next door – one in four don’t even know neighbours’s names
• However, almost half of us feel living in a community is important
• And more people in the West Midlands are members of Neighbourhood Watch than anywhere else in the UK
• AXA and Neighbourhood Watch launch quest to find the nation’s number one, enter at www.axa.co.uk

AXA and Neighbourhood Watch are calling for people in the West Midlands to show Britain how close-knit the community you live in is.

AXA Home Insurance is today launching a nationwide search to rekindle the nation’s lost community spirit. With the support of Neighbourhood Watch, the UK-wide community association, AXA’s Community Challenge will find the best community in Britain and that community will win AXA’s support to help turn a local project into a reality.

Emotionally distant

The move comes as new research[1] reveals that every six out of 10 of us in the West Midlands would rather drive to the shops than ask a neighbour for a cup of sugar.

It seems some of us will go to great lengths to avoid speaking to our neighbours these days. While previous generations wouldn’t have thought twice about popping next door if they’d forgotten something off their weekly shop, today we prefer to get in the car.

The research, commissioned by AXA Home Insurance into the state of community spirit, has found that we are now so emotionally distant from our neighbours that only a quarter of us (25%) in the region know our neighbour’s names and one in nine (11%) of us admit we’ve never helped a neighbour as we don’t know them or would not feel comfortable doing so.

Three-quarters of us (75%), among the highest in the country – don’t socialise with our neighbours, and rather than popping next door for a friendly cuppa when someone moves in, more than one in five of us (23%) can’t even bring ourselves to say hello on the street.

Everybody needs good neighbours

Despite this, four in 10 (41%) admit that a neighbour’s willingness to help others is the key to giving a sense of community, and 49% acknowledge that a community is important. In fact, for three-quarters (62%), the key benefits of living in a community are friendliness closely followed by helpfulness (53%).

Also crucial for most of us is the fact that living in a community makes us feel safer (54%): while the majority of us (82%) feel safe in our area during the day, by the time darkness falls, almost a quarter (23%) feel wary.

However, a high number are involved with community, with 35% involved in local organisations such as church, the PTA and Neighbourhood Watch. In fact, more people in the West Midlands are involved with the latter than in any other part of the country.

Recession bites

But it’s not all down to us: the survey shows what a major impact the recession has had on people’s sense of community, with 17% saying it has made things worse and one in 10 (10%) blaming it for creating a ‘think for yourself’ culture.

While four in 10 (40%) cite local shops as being key for shaping a community, almost a third (29%) have seen their local independent shops close, 46% have noticed a rise in unemployment, while 17% say they have seen a rise in crime levels.

Amanda Edwards of AXA Home Insurance said: “It’s worrying to see how few of us can turn to a neighbour for even a cup of sugar these days. However, it seems that it’s not that we don’t like them; it’s more that so many of us simply don’t get to know our neighbours anymore, so would naturally feel awkward about asking for something.

That said, belonging to a community is still important for half of us which is why we at AXA Home Insurance have teamed up with Neighbourhood Watch to launch our search to find Britain’s Best Community.

Roy Rudham, Chairman of the United Kingdom Neighbourhood Watch Trust (UKNWT), added: “It’s the simple things that make a community a great place to live: good amenities, schools, and transport, and especially people. When you have neighbours looking out for one another, the place you live automatically becomes friendlier, safer, and transforms an area into a place you feel truly at home. We’re looking forward to finding out which of Britain’s communities combines all of these attributes and calls itself the best.

AXA Home Insurance Community Challenge

The AXA Home Insurance Community Challenge runs from 22 March 2010 to 31 August 2010 with AXA and Neighbourhood Watch announcing the best UK community in October 2010. Communities will be evaluated based on criteria such as the most neighbourly, the safest, or the cleanest.

Community members can enter their local area into the competition by downloading a PDF form from www.axa.co.uk and www.neighbourhoodwatch.net and return by email to axa@community-challenge.org.uk or post to AXA Community Challenge, PO Box 64189, London WC1A 9EJ by the closing date. The best community in each UK region and an overall winner will be chosen by a panel and announced in early October.

More information on AXA’s Community Challenge can be found at www.axa.co.uk.

[1] The research was completed by OnePoll in March 2010 amongst 2,000 UK adults for AXA Home Insurance.

Take a look at the video we took promoting the new Yellow £100,000 National Lottery scratchcard in Nottingham today.

Almost half of Brits (47%) say they need to take a daily break to keep them on top form, according to new research by National Lottery Scratchcards and 10:20am is the most popular morning time to enjoy a change of routine and indulge in a moment of fun.  Nottingham folk are bang on time needing a break just one minute later at 10:21am.

The research, which looked at when people thought they had worked hard enough to take a well earned rest from their daily routine, discovered that the early morning play slot was just the time to pop on the kettle, surf the internet, text a mate or just have a good laugh.

The city also enjoys an early afternoon break at, on average, 2:18pm.  But it’s what they do during the breaks that tells us a lot more about the people of Nottingham.  The city is a lover of tea with 50% stressing the importance of having a cuppa during their break.  But whereas many other cities have a good old gossip during their break, Nottingham folk use the latest technology to keep in touch with friends with 23% sending texts and 13% spending time on social networking sites.

Nottingham’s very own ‘Laughter Master, John Hipkiss spent the morning in Lower Pavement Street at MSR Newsagents chatting to locals about putting some play in their day; to break the monotony and aid concentration across the whole day.  Commenting on The National Lottery Scratchcard poll he said: “We all need a break but the key is not to be negative whilst we boil the communal kettle.  To get the most out of our days we must enjoy these precious moments and laughter is the key.  Laughter is the agent that can bind fun and play together.  It doesn’t matter when you have your break just make sure you look forward to it and enjoyment it.”

Put Some Play In Your Day in Nottingham

The gang have just finished a new DVD for longstanding client Lingreen Properties.  Targeting the ‘silver market’ the video has been produced to promote Yates Yard, the award-winning development in Eccleshall.  Shot on location in the village it’s laid back tone and style has gone down extremely well, especially with potential buyers. Take a look via our friends at YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7RkpmRxcA4

Birmingham is home to the most dependable people and partners in the country a new study by Costa who launch their ‘Coffee Club’, a customer rewards card has revealed and the Townhouse gang was tasked with launching the new Coffee Club in the second city.  On a cold March morning we asked Brummies why the are such nice people…here’s our VoxPops and the facts and figures:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXRNZW7HSpo

78 per cent of Brummies consider themselves to be loyal and 78 per cent cited their partners as the top person, place or organisation they felt more loyal to – both the highest ratings of all UK cities.

Three in four people in Birmingham (74 per cent) have not cheated on their other half and 78 per cent say it’s the emotional support they receive from their loved one that makes them feel so loyal.

Brum mums came in after partners in the top ten list of loyalties in joint second place with best friends. Dad, siblings and pets were left to complete the top five.

George Gee, Loyalty Manager for Costa who commissioned the research to discover what drives loyalty when it comes to relationships and purchasing decisions said:

“Birmingham is well known for its friendly people and you know that when you’ve made a good friend, you’ve got one for life but partners will surely be pleased to find out that they’re number one in their other half’s eyes.

“It may come as a surprise for mums however to find out their children are likely to feel more loyal to their partners and only come second jointly with best friends.”

“What is clear however is that all people in Birmingham really value loyalty. The research also shows they like being rewarded for it. 85 per cent of people in the region said they believed businesses should be offering more rewards for their custom. Our new Costa Coffee Club will do just that.”

As patriotic people, Birmingham rated the country they lived in at sixth followed by their co-workers at seventh on the loyalties list. The poll also revealed that the region rates their favourite football and sports teams highly as they placed them eighth. Indeed, 88 per cent of people in Birmingham were adamant they would not support a different sports team if their current one went through a losing streak. Birmingham’s bosses came in at ninth and allegiances to schools or universities completed the top ten.

The study also revealed that more than one in two (53 per cent) of people in the region are more loyal than they were five years ago.

And they want that loyalty reciprocated, whether it’s from partners or friends. Researchers found that the biggest act of disloyalty was infidelity (47 per cent), followed by being lied to (26 per cent) and being spoken about behind their back (12 per cent). 17 per cent said they would feel a bit guilty if they shopped in a different store to their usual.  12 per cent even said the same if they drank a coffee that’s not from their usual brand or shop.

George Gee from Costa added: “Rewards, great quality products and great service were cited as the top motivators by Birmingham’s people for giving their loyalty to a shop, brand or business. At Costa we pride ourselves on offering our customers the very best coffee, food, service and experience. We are delighted to now be able to show coffee lovers in Birmingham that we value their custom with our new “Coffee Club”.

The ‘Costa Coffee Club’ is a free and easy card based reward programme enabling customers to earn points with every purchase to spend on any food and drink in Costa stores nationwide from March 4th 2010.