˅
˅
˅
˅
Every month we engage with residents within a borough across Kent in local high streets, community groups and public spaces to understand how the local environment impacts their health and wellbeing.
In February and March 2026, we heard from 58 residents living in Tonbridge.
57% of people highlighted Tonbridge as being a friendly place and that they have a sense of community. People spoke about how groups and/or physical spaces were important in contributing to this cohesion of local residents.
“I find it friendly. My church group is very helpful, as are my neighbours where I live. I had a stroke a year ago and everyone rallied round. I am not sure that would be true of everywhere. I like living here”.
“Parkrun is a highlight of the week, great way of keeping fit, seeing friendly faces. Great for your mood, your mental and physical health. It's a social way to exercise”
“The people are friendly and it's a friendly place. The impact of that is that you feel part of it, less alone. You want to do things. There's a definite sense of community, people look out for each other. I am part of the MS Society and I go to the gym at the Angel Centre”
“I feel really positive about living here, even though I live on my own, I still feel really connected”
What we heard in Tonbridge is however, very different to what we heard in Ashford, where just 12.5% of people mentioned topics that were linked to appreciating the community they lived within.
Why is this important?
There is a multitude of research that highlights the positive wellbeing and health outcomes associated with high levels of social cohesion and a sense of belonging to a community.
Briggs and Smith, 2023 found that community engagement and social cohesion significantly predicted life satisfaction and subjective wellbeing in older adults. Similarly, in the social science journal for kids, research showed that people who felt connected to a group had lower depression, stress, and anxiety. Local 2025 statistics from the Kent Public Health Observatory show slightly lower levels of diagnosed depression in Tonbridge compared to Ashford (18% vs 19%) and Serious Metal illness (0.69% vs 0.84%).
There could be a number of factors affecting this, not least the levels of deprivation within each district (Ashford average deprivation score 19.3 vs Tonbridge and Mailing 13.1, KPHO 2025). However, could it be that the sense of community within Tonbridge is a positive contributing factor to addressing health inequality outcomes?
The UK government is currently investing in a range of initiatives such as the Community Life Survey, Pride in Place investment, This Place Matters and an Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion.
All these initiatives aim to strengthen social cohesion, foster a sense of community and support community life.
Many areas across Kent have received investment from these central government initiatives. We suggest that further understanding how Tonbridge is generating such a strong sense of community and it’s different sub-dimensions, is equally as important as planning for centralised community investment. There may be much more to learn about how communities are already fostering a sense of community and throw light upon how local authorities and health services can foster this and be led by local communities.
Bias and limitations
Engagement was based on convenience sampling, as residents we spoke to were those who were available and willing to speak to us at the time and location of engagement activities. Therefore, the sample is not representative of the Tonbridge population and these findings should be interpreted as indicative trends rather than conclusive evidence.
