SOMERSET Community Foundation is calling for more philanthropic support for Somerset following the launch of its first 'Vital Signs' report launched this week.

The report reveals the level of hidden needs lying beneath the ‘rural idyll’ and calls for more effective and coordinated investment to boost communities’ own solutions.

For the majority of Somerset residents, the county is a wonderful place to grow up, work, and retire, and this is reflected in the report. However, the good quality of life enjoyed by the majority masks the inequalities, hardship and disadvantage experienced by the minority.

The report reveals issues of major concern, for example:

1. Hospital admissions for self-harm by children in Somerset are 50 per cent higher than the national averages

2. One in six older people in Somerset say they have insufficient social contact and feel socially isolated

3. Average GCSE results by pupils from poorer backgrounds is less than half as good as their better-off peers, and the gap is one of the widest in England.

Justin Sargent, Chief Executive of Somerset Community Foundation, said: “Many people will be surprised by what our report reveals but I believe it demonstrates a tremendous and urgent need to increase the level and effectiveness of local philanthropic investment in Somerset.

"At its most inspirational, philanthropy can be a catalyst for significant social change and our report reveals why we need a step-change in Somerset now.”