Yorkshire Evening Post Big Conversation survey results revealed

Leeds residents have been praised for showing “remarkable resilience and tenacity” during the coronavirus pandemic, as the YEP today reveals the results of our Big Conversation survey on lockdown life in the city.

Leeds City Council leader Coun Judith Blake said the attitude shown by people across Leeds shows how much pride people have in their city.

Coun Blake made the comments after the results were revealed of the snapshot survey of Yorkshire Evening Post readers, looking at big issues in Leeds relating to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.

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Dozens of YEP readers took part in the Big Conversation survey, which asked people how they thought Leeds had changed during a year like no other.

In the survey launched in September, readers had their say on the biggest issues affecting them and Leeds during the coronavirus pandemic.

JPI Media titles throughout the country asked questions of readers to find out what has changed since lockdown - and what the new society which emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic should look like to benefit us all.

The survey asked people if they were visiting their local town or city centres more or less often than before lockdown.

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Some 40 per cent of respondents said they were visiting a lot less and 31 per cent said they hadn’t visited at all since lockdown.

When asked how well they had adapted to online shopping and communicating via video calls, 80 per cent said they had adapted very well and 37 per cent said they had adapted fairly well.

And people were asked how they felt their mental health has been affected by the pandemic.

Just under half - 48 per cent of respondents - said they were slightly affected and 16 per cent said they were strongly affected.

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A total of 34 per cent said they were not much affected or not at all affected.

Meanwhile, a startling 71 per cent of respondents to our survey said they did not feel confident travelling on public transport.

Coun Blake said: “The people of Leeds have shown remarkable resilience and tenacity during the current pandemic which demonstrates just how much pride they have in their city and their communities even in the face of so much uncertainty.

“Alongside our partners, we are doing all that we can to support local residents, families and businesses so that together we can come through this crisis and emerge with a sense of hope and optimism about what the future holds for Leeds.

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“To help us do that, we’re always very keen to hear from residents about the key issues which affect them and for their views to play an important part in shaping our plans for the city.”

The survey also asked readers how effective they thought the ‘rule of 6’ was likely to be in reducing the chances of a second wave.

Some 27 per cent of people who responded said they thought it would be ‘not at all effective’, while 42 per cent said it would be ‘not effective’.

Only 21 per cent said they thought it would be effective and three per cent answered ‘very effective.’

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The survey asked which areas do people think are the top three areas most in need of increased spending.

The top three answers were local hospitals at 66 per cent, social care services at 57 per cent and emergency services at 53 per cent.

Support for local businesses was fourth on the list at 39 per cent, followed by public transport at 20 per cent.

YEP Editor Laura Collins said: “People in Leeds have been asked to make huge sacrifices ever since the national lockdown was first imposed in March, to slow the spread of coronavirus.

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“This is reflected in our Big Conversation survey results, where nearly one third of people revealed that they haven’t ventured out to visit Leeds city centre since lockdown.

“We’ve asked you what matters to you most in this survey and we are listening to your feedback to inform our coverage in the future and bring you the stories that matter the most.

“The pandemic has reshaped all of our lives and our way of thinking and, over the coming weeks, we’ll be looking closer at the reponses in this survey to strike at the heart of each issue.”

Sabrina Armstrong, director of organisational effectiveness for NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We always welcome the opportunity to find out more about the

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experiences of people in Leeds as this helps us plan and fund services effectively.

“The information from this survey by the Yorkshire Evening Post provides us with additional data to help us further understand how our local people and communities are doing.

“We will look at the findings and assess where we might be able to do things differently, where safe and appropriate to do so.”

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