Bingo Association: Community Social Interaction Declining

Whilst the vast majority (97 per cent) of people believe that traditional social activities in the UK help foster a sense of belonging in the community, nearly half (49%) say they are in decline and would prefer to stay at home, watch television, or spend time on the telephone with family and friends. The survey, conducted by GFK NOP across a sample of over 1,000 people in the UK, revealed that more than two thirds of adults agree that, amongst other places, the church, local library, pub, sports and social club provide people with an ongoing sense of belonging in their community. However, when asked which activities they personally prefer, staying at home with friends, watching TV, or spending time on the television are overwhelmingly more popular. More highlights from the survey include: • Whilst 70% of all adults believe that going to church is an important community activity, only 31% actually attend. • Social networking and emailing have now overtaken going to church or to the local sports club in popularity. Three times as many 16-24 year olds use the internet to interact with their family and friends as go to more traditional venues for meeting people. And social networking is fast approaching going to the pub in terms of its popularity amongst people in the UK. • Watching television scored most highly in terms of preferred leisure activity, according to 85 per cent of women and 78 per cent of men. • Eating out, emerges as a popular social activity, and a way of keeping in touch with friends and family, but still falls behind watching TV in terms of preference. Today The Bingo Association is also publishing a new in-depth report written by the Henley Centre Headlight Vision into the 'Social Impact of Bingo Club Closures'. An estimated 3.8 million UK adults (8.1 per cent of the adult population) play bingo and, contrary to popular belief, bingo is also on the rise amongst younger audiences (16% rise for people aged under 41 in the last six years.) And, according to the research conducted by GFK NOP, 48 per cent of the general population view bingo as an important venue for social interaction. Please refere to the PRESS section for the full release.