Thriving Communities Strategy

Thriving Communities insights

Below are some illustrative insights about Oxford and the leisure and cultural opportunities it offers to residents.

There is a strong correlation between deprivation and physical inactivity. Most deprived areas in Oxford have low physical activity rates and high rates of obesity which contributes to lower life expectancy. Areas in Barton, Blackbird Leys, Greater Leys, Littlemore and Rose Hill have the lowest proportion of active adults in the City.
There is a link between deprivation and the preference for exercising in leisure centres over exercising in informal settings such as parks, or at home.
Oxford has become more digitally competent since COVID-19 forced businesses and individuals to quickly adapt. However more granular data shows that digital exclusion, including the cost of data and devices, affects deprived areas in the southern neighbourhoods. Some older people are less inclined to use digital communication channels.
Communities are staying more local and discovering what’s on their doorstep.

Every £1 of City Council core funding investment into cultural organisations in 2019-20 resulted in more than £50 of additional funding/earned income.
For every £1 invested in a leisure centre, £23 in value is created according to research by the King’s Fund.
By reducing inactivity, life expectancy between the least and most deprived would reduce from 12 to 8 years, according to research by East Anglia University.
A 2014 review showed that c£18.3 million of social value (the monetary equivalent of the importance people place on the changes in their lives) is generated by Oxford’s leisure centres each year. Our tennis programmes alone generate c£336k of social value.
However, there is a c£1.5 million maintenance backlog across all community centres and c£15.2 million potential costs in repairs and maintenance of our leisure centres over the next 25 years (based on 2018 condition surveys).

Oxford has a variety of leisure facilities; public, private and boutique offers, including a high number of museums, green and blue spaces and arts venues for its size.
The majority of residents are within a 20 minute walk to a leisure centre.
Arts and cultural organisations are predominantly based in the city centre -there are 13 museums and art galleries in Oxford, of which the majority are located in the centre of the city. There are currently six main theatres in Oxford, all bar the Pegasus Theatre are located in the city centre.
26% of arts and culture audiences live within four miles of the venues visited.
Community centres are concentrated in the city centre and East Oxford.
Over 90 green spaces, of varying sizes, can be found across the City, including parks and nature reserves.
26% of arts and culture audiences live within four miles of the venues visited.