The York Narrative

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Community and wellbeing organisations play a foundational role in The York Narrative. Through your work, you are able to bring people together to drive forward our shared vision for the city. It is in your hands to inspire others to create a place where every person matters, and where all can play their part in progressing a thriving and sustainable future.

Whether you are a voluntary organisation, a community project or a leisure space, The York Narrative will help you to apply for funding, create public programmes and recruit staff and volunteers – and do it in a way which benefits from joined-up thinking and common purpose. By working together, York will stand out from the competition and become clearly associated with the values it stands for.

“We have been part of the process throughout the research and then development phase. The evidence base demonstrates the importance of focusing on human experience and inequality and that came out clearly in the narrative. It is now for our members to consider how they can best use the narrative to attract more volunteers, funding or opportunity to continue their good work.”

York CVS

“I was delighted to be part of the process to develop the York Narrative and look forward to accessing the research to help with our future projects.”

York: Human Rights City Network

Key Facts

Voted ‘Best Place to Live’ by The Sunday Times in 2018 , York is not complacent. Its active, caring and inclusive community, continues to live up to and apply the social values of its Victorian industrialist and philanthropist Joseph Rowntree:

For quality of life, York always comes top of the UK rankings. The Happy City Thriving Places Index voted it one of the UK’s best places to live and the city is especially noted for its community spirit (No.1 in 2017); its independent high-streets including Bishopsthorpe Road; home to the top 3 best schools in the North; 4th happiest city to live in the UK and the Public Health award for the UK’s most active city.

York’s The Third Sector is one of the most active in the UK, with local residents engaged in volunteering in the community to make York a better place for everyone.

Via an annual survey, the views of York citizen-panel confirm that residents have positive things to say about the place they call home.

3 in 4 of York residents agree that York is a safe place to live in, and find their local area is a good place for children and young people to grow up.

Despite its success, York openly recognises the equality gap between its most and least affluent residents and tackling wage, housing and life expectancy inequalities remains a key priority.

Developing affordable housing is a key priority. The average house price in York is currently £255,000 which is 11% higher than the national average.

York ranked 4th in the UK’s Greenest Hotspots, and is the best major city for recycling (per capita) according to research by First Mile, which looked at recycling, green space, air quality, pollution levels, and more.

York Community Stadium is on track to be completed in 2020. It will house an 8,000 seat stadium, an IMAX cinema, a community hub and library, swimming and gym facilities, NHS outpatient services, as well as retail and restaurant.

The Narrative Toolkit

Whether you want to recruit volunteers, make the case for grant-funding, influence city policy or planning, the toolkit is designed to help you adopt The York Narrative with a framework for implementation, how-to guidelines for each stage and downloadable resources for you to adapt and use in your organisation.

View the toolkit