(The following copy was published in the Jersey Evening Post on Friday 24th February, 2023)
Jersey is a prosperous and beautiful Island, combining career opportunities within the lucrative finance sector, with the benefits of living by the sea on an exceptionally safe Island that is only 40 minutes from London by plane. Its offshore status has brought pockets of prosperity and opportunity to many and continues to generate millions of pounds a year. However, this success is not universal and many communities face challenges of inequality and disadvantage.
These inequalities are highlighted in a recent report commissioned by Jersey Community Foundation (JCF) that assesses Jersey’s need in order to distribute their grant funding more effectively. The results reveal much of the Island’s wealth disparity - for instance, that those living in St Brelade have a 40% higher average household income than those living in St Helier - and looks at all areas of society from health and wellbeing to arts, heritage, and culture.
Conducted in 2022, the Needs Assessment research is the first of its kind in Jersey by a non-government organisation and will form part of the basis for a strong, evidence-based approach for JCF’s future grant-giving activity.
As part of JCF’s membership of the UK Community Foundation Network, they are required to go through an accreditation process. One area that this process will look at is evidence that JCF have analysed the local need, with particular attention on the needs of diverse, marginalised and ‘hard to reach’ groups.
The report focuses on 7 social themes, appraising, and evaluating each of them to identify how well Jersey performs internationally, and to understand Jersey’s most pressing needs. The role of the charitable sector is centrally placed amongst the findings, outlining spending, focus, efficacy and identifying key challenges within each theme. There was extensive engagement with stakeholders across all the social themes, with more than 30 stakeholders interviewed and given the opportunity to feedback into the near-100-page report. A community survey was also conducted, collecting over 1125 responses, achieving a statistically significant sample of the Islands population.
“JCF is helping Jersey become a community that effectively distributes its considerable wealth and kindness to causes that matter most to both donor and society. Along with our sector specific grant advisers and our work with charities on-Island, this report helps provide a very solid framework for effective grant-giving.”, says Anna Terry, CEO of JCF.
“This report opens avenues of discussion and opportunity with charities, government and donors who all seek to improve outcomes for our community. The data is freely available for charities to use to demonstrate need and potential impact within specific themes and will help ensure that funding is focussed on the areas of greatest priority.
More specifically, for JCF, the report provides tangible, relevant, recent data for us to bring to potential donors or corporates who may be looking to redress the issues our Island faces. This is key to our 2023 strategy as we are seeing an increasing number of individuals approach us to set up both individual and corporate donor advised funds (DAFs). We know that we live in a very generous community and that many wish to give back to the community in which they live and work, this research will support us in delivering a giving process that is smooth, reliable, quantifiable and flexes with the passions and preferences of the donor(s).”
The full report takes each social theme in detail and can be found on the Jersey Community Foundation’s website https://www.jerseycommunityfoundation.org/publications/
THE SEVEN SOCIAL THEMES
The seven social themes (taken from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) follow a people-centric approach appropriate to a community foundation. The hierarchy of needs reflects the universal, basic needs of society as its base (Housing, Good Health and Social Care, Community Safety) and progresses to emotional and psychological needs (Strong Community Wellbeing, Fairness, Learning and Education) as individuals and communities move from deficiency to growth and self-fulfilment (Culture, Arts and Heritage).
JERSEY’S LOCAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT AT A GLANCE
Housing and Homelessness
100+ islanders were roofless or houseless at any one time in 2022
10% of islanders either live, or have lived in, insecure or inadequate housing in 2022
53.8% increase in the cost of the average 3-bedroom house between 2011 and 2021
2,250 number of affordable houses that Andium plans to build between 2022 and 2030
40% of those surveyed saved nothing or under 2.5% of their monthly income in 2022
Good Health & Social Care
30% of children in Year 6 are obese or overweight – this can impact learning, and can lead to longer-term impacts on physical & mental health
50% of adults are obese or overweight, which can increase the risks of multiple health issues, including heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer
40% of respondents self-reported high or severe levels of anxiety; compared to 4% who self-reported no anxiety in 2022
Jersey has an aging population, putting an increasing strain on the third sector
53% of islanders on low incomes were likely to delay seeing a GP due to affordability in 2022
60% of deaths were related to circulatory system diseases and cancers in 2022
Community Safety
£110,000 spent on police officers attending mental health incidents in 2021
+28% increase in mental health incidents in year to November 2022
£1m+: the total cost of 824 missing youths to the States of Jersey Police in 2021
Significant increase in youth crime in recent years. 8 out of 10 repeat offenders in 2021 were under 18
High levels of substance abuse, with street value of drugs amongst the highest in the world
Strong Community Wellbeing
3,500 estimated Full-Time equivalent jobs by islanders volunteering
52% the Island’s dependency ratio in 2021, which has risen from 46% in 2011
Few islanders are meeting the recommended levels of daily exercise
Mind Jersey claim they only see 40% of people who need support & that islanders are falling out of the system
Minority communities are the least represented in the charitable sector
23% of survey respondents had faced discrimination
Fairness
10,201 the number of people who received income support in 2019
470 members of Community Savings in Jersey in 2022
£28,600 the average income of the bottom quintile of households in 2021
53% of islanders are having difficulties meeting their living costs
27% of islanders self-reported having received charitable services or in-kind assistance in 2022
Learning and Education
24.2% of local students on pupil premium (2020)
26% of local students have English as an additional language
25% of children live in households with an income below 60% of the Jersey average
3.3x more likely that state educated Islanders have no formal education or only GCSE than privately educated, in 2022
27% self-reported lower salary for State educated Islanders vs fee-paying Islanders (2022)
Culture, Arts and Heritage (CAH)
45% of 16-34 year-olds survey respondents felt bored always or often compared to a fifth of people aged 65 or over
93% of those surveyed reported taking part in on-Island CAH activities (2022)
29% of those surveyed reported that CAH affordability was a barrier
1% the share of Government expenditure committed to CAH investment as of 2022
Community Foundations connect local sources of philanthropy with local charitable partners to deliver funding programmes that target local need.