Milton Keynes ranked fourth most thoughtful community in the UK, according to new research

The research, conducted by bloomandwild.com, measured thougtfulness in five areas, which included the number of registered charities, number of volunteering opportunities, number of community gardening schemes, recycling rate and electric car ownership.

Researchers said the definition of giving back, which is to “willingly offer help to other people who need it and will appreciate it”, is what influenced their decision to chose the five factors of thoughtfulness.

After identifying the number of opportunities to give back to the community, the researchers then divided these in relation to each location’s population size and normalised the score to give a ranking out of 100.

Overall, Milton Keynes was found to have 418 registered charities, 60 volunteer opportunities, seven community gardening groups, a 59.1% recycling rate and 8641 ultra-low emission vehicles, giving the town a final score of 77 and meaning it placed in fourth, two points off of first placed Swindon.

A bloomandwild.com spokesperson said: "We can all look back on the last year and admire the level of community spirit that we’ve seen in the UK - and around the world. Friends, families, neighbours and strangers have all gone out of their way to help one another.

"During the peak of the pandemic we saw a massive amount of people volunteering to help the NHS, care homes, charities and shielding neighbours. All of this goodness left us wondering, where actually are the most thoughtful places in the UK? So we gathered a tonne of data to discover which parts of Britain are always putting their community first."

MK also came in at ninth placed in the recycling rate category and fourth place in the ultra-low emission vehicles category.

Overall, Swindon came in first, Bath second, Oxford third, MK fourth, Sevenoaks fifth, Darlington sixth, Wigan seventh, Bristol eighth, Bury ninth and Isle of Wight tenth.

"By carrying out this research our hearts were warmed with just how many places in the UK are prioritising thoughtful acts. And during the pandemic, these thoughtful actions have only increased.

"These random acts of thoughtfulness have made every community a kinder, stronger place during these testing times," the bloomandwild.com spokesperson said.