In Autumn 2013, the Warwickshire Health & Wellbeing Board sent out 25,000 surveys on ‘Living in Warwickshire’ and, with nearly 8,000 responses, Sarah Windrum gives us an overview of how people feel about living in the county, and her experience here.

Great British Life: Warwick CastleWarwick Castle (Image: Archant)

The ‘Living in Warwickshire’ survey sent out last year focused on what we like and don’t like about living in our area as well as what we would like to see improved. The full report is due out in March but Warwickshire Observatory published some of the headline results on their website recently and they made for interesting reading.

Great British Life: Warwick BridgeWarwick Bridge (Image: Archant)

Great British Life: Canal in Leamington SpaCanal in Leamington Spa (Image: Archant)

89% of people were very or fairly satisfied with their local area. I have lived in Warwickshire for 11 years now and originally came from Portsmouth on the South Coast. I love the sense of community people across Warwickshire have built up and take great pride in which is something not always present across other parts of the UK.

Great British Life: A perfect demonstration of relaxationA perfect demonstration of relaxation (Image: Archant)

The reasons I settled here were what people liked most about Warwickshire: it’s easily accessible central location and its attractive surrounding countryside. I like the town life which is why I live in Leamington but a very short drive will get me to beautiful countryside and so I really do feel I have the best of both worlds!

People were annoyed about traffic congestion and poor public transport provision as well as the fact we are a long way from the seaside! Coming from the South Coast I do definitely get that landlocked feeling but that said there are plenty of rivers, canals, and lakes to enjoy across the county.

The survey also asked about our health and wellbeing and it was interesting to read that nearly half of us were fairly or very worried about day-to-day budgeting and just over half were fairly or very worried about longer-term financial planning. This is something that I actually wrote about in January after a meeting with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and you can read my money makeover tips here - www.warwickshirelife.co.uk/home/does_your_money_need_a_makeover_1_3226481

Our other concerns are health focused. 40% of us were concerned we were a little overweight and 6% concerned that we were very overweight. I have struggled with my weight for the last 4 years or so before deciding to do something about it last year. I lost 2.5 stone in 9 months and I have so far been successful at keeping it off. A lot of it was about re-education for me and particularly thinking that I didn’t have to be the bin for the food my daughter didn’t eat! Exercise is great too and that leads me onto the next concern that 18% of us said we rarely or never find time to relax. One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to get more active and I signed up to the Regency 10k in Leamington on April 6 as part of the British Blind Sport team. It may sound bizarre but running is my time to think, my time to listen to music, and my time where I get to leave the tantrums and the upside down house behind for just 30 minutes twice a week. It’s bliss.

You can have a look at what else we love and hate about living in Warwickshire at the Warwickshire Observatory website: www.askwarks.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/living-in-warwickshire-survey-headline-results

Also, if you’ve been inspired and would like to join or sponsor our Regency 10k team then our Just Giving page is here: www.justgiving.com/Team-Emerald

Most importantly, we need to make sure we find that time to relax!