NPC has launched a free data resource to help charities and funders assess Covid-19 related needs across England.
The data reveals the relative strength of the social sector in different regions.
The initial dataset includes Covid-19 cases and deaths and the prevalence of high-risk conditions in certain areas.
It also includes social demographic information such as households over 65, lone parent households and the proportion of neighbourhoods in the bottom 10% of the Index of Multiple Deprivation.
The data includes the local charity density, building on NPC’s previous research Where are England’s charities?
As the project develops, further datasets will be added, such as ethnicity demographics.
Tom Collinge, NPC’s policy manager, said: “We hope charities and funders will use this data in allocating resources. It won’t tell charities where the highest risk is, but it does make some factors clearer, and allows charities to consider how they relate to each other. Today’s release is data and a bit of example analysis but it’s a step to a more responsive dashboard to help the whole sector understand the current crisis.
“Our goal is for charities to use data to allocate resources more effectively. We are concerned, for example, that areas at high risk but with less social sector support will not loudly advocate for themselves or put in funder applications as much as places with a stronger social infrastructure. Data can stop them going unseen.”
Rosario Piazza, NPC’s data principal said that, to begin with, NPC is analysing publicly available data sets, mostly from the Office for National Statistics and Public Health England, “to identify indicators of health and economic vulnerability to the current crisis and make them as accessible as possible for charities and funders”.
The next part of the development of the resource will include adding new layers of data on the capacity of the social sector, derived from charities themselves and existing data sets.
“We’ve launched this as a rough and ready version so charities can access the data right away, and there will be an interactive dashboard coming soon,” Piazza said.
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