Sussex Uncovered 3

Sussex Uncovered aims to tell the story of the needs and strengths of our communities across Sussex. We started from the Indices of Multiple Deprivation, but have researched a wider dataset to give a broad picture of our county today. 

We hope that the Sussex Uncovered report will be read and used by anyone who wants to understand Sussex better – philanthropists, individuals and companies that care about their community, charities and community groups and local authorities. We hope that it will provide evidence of local needs against which to plan your work or to put your case for funding. We also hope that it will demonstrate the vital importance of local philanthropy and local communities and inspire a new generation of people to give locally.

Findings 

The key finding of our research is that Sussex is a great place to live if you can afford it, but there is substantial inequality in all areas of life and many people in our county struggle to get by every day. The work of Sussex Community Foundation also shows that we are blessed with a thriving community and, wherever there are challenges, there are people who will work together to make things better.

We have organised the chapters of this report around six broad categories, designed to cover most areas of charitable activity. This is the classification we used to analyse our grant-making.

The categories are:

• Health, wellbeing and safety
• Arts, culture and heritage
• Skills, education and work
• Community cohesion
• Isolation, disadvantage and access to services
• Environment and public spaces

In each chapter, we present the findings of our research, highlight the key issues, and show case examples of great local projects that are addressing those issues. We also describe our vision for the future and the kind of activity we would like to support.

Our local communities are facing major challenges and society’s response to these challenges is likely to shape the way we live for generations to come. Yet, wherever there are challenges, people come together to address them. At Sussex Community Foundation, we are privileged to work with many inspirational people. Whether they are people working or volunteering for charities and community groups or philanthropists and donors, they are united in wanting to change Sussex for the better.