A new study has named Lichfield as one of the safest places for older people to live in England and Wales.
The research by SunLife analysed towns and cities based on factors such as crime, ambulance response times and the prevalence of influenza.
It found Lichfield was the sixth safest place for the over 60s – while Staffordshire was crowned the safest county for the older generation.
But the city didn’t come out on top in the Midlands, with Tamworth finishing fourth in the rankings.
| RANK | LOCATION | COUNTY |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chorley | Lancashire |
| 2 | Wokingham | Berkshire |
| 3 | Wigan | Greater Manchester |
| 4 | Tamworth | Staffordshire |
| 5 | Guildford | Surrey |
| 6 | Lichfield | Staffordshire |
| 7 | Rochdale | Greater Manchester |
| 8 | Stockport | Greater Manchester |
| 9 | Oldham | Greater Manchester |
| 10 | Stafford | Staffordshire |
| 11 | Newcastle-under-Lyme | Staffordshire |
| 12 | Chester | Cheshire |
| 13 | Bury | Greater Manchester |
| 14 | Caerphilly | Mid Glamorgan |
| 15 | Horsham | West Sussex |
| 16 | Selby | North Yorkshire |
| 17 | Woking | Surrey |
| 18 | Eastleigh | Hampshire |
| 19 | Salford | Greater Manchester |
| 20 | York | North Yorkshire |
A spokesperson for SunLife said:
“Feeling safe in your home is a basic right that we all deserve, but sometimes, this feeling of safety can begin to feel a little shaky, both in and out of the house.
“For people over 60, factors linked to safety can include the obvious, such as burglaries and thefts from persons. But factors such as flu mortality rates and ambulance response times also affect an area’s safety.
“According to our findings, Staffordshire is the safest county out of England and Wales. Overall, it’s the most consistently low, on average, when taking into account burglaries, theft, ambulance waiting times and flu mortality.”
SunLife spokesperson
More details on the findings are available online.
We all know why ? Lichfield is full of old folk and the council love it !!!
Not so Mr legs – all schools are full with 2 more being built & 2 extending! Lots of young people in Lichfield
Flo, the average age here is 90.
They don’t live in Lichfield Flo? unless your over 75 you won’t find any accommodation!!! They all commute from Fradley.
Going into Lichfield centre is like walking into a care home.
Lichfield is geared toward retirement village upon retirement village. Just moved away got fed up never being able to see doctors etc they even take the commuter appts for working people. Town is not appealing anymore. We are a family with teenage children.
Blimey, there’s a fair amount of Lichfield-bashing going on regarding this subject, especially with hyperbolic remarks such as ‘town is not appealing anymore’.
It’s usually Tamworth, Cannock and Burton that tend to get it in the neck for being ‘unappealing’.
Going back to this particular survey, I’m quite pleasantly surprised that (for better or worse) Tamworth has outranked Lichfield by 2 places, which in itself has been subjected to more than its fair share of bashing over the years.
Also to add, I find a lot of both the old people-bashing and (equally) young people-bashing by certain individuals on here extremely tedious and trite.
Hardly anyone seems to mention middle-agers and whatever banes of our lives they may be responsible for.
Getting an appointment at the doctor’s is impossible due to constantly being full, so not a benefit for older people.
Recently there have been reports of muggings and attacks against older people. Last year, someone over 60 even got murdered in the Lichfield area by someone from 100 miles away, if I recall!
Looking at that table, how on earth did Tamworth even get so high!? Have you been there? It’s worse than this place!
Personally, I have gone back to University because I’m leaving as soon as I get my degree, even if I will be nearly 40 when I finish it. I’ll take my chances elsewhere in the country but to be honest, it will likely be abroad cos this little island we are all on is quickly sinking with all the issues it has
Not just Lichfield (and Tamworth) bashing from ‘Lichfield sucks’, but also Britain-bashing by the looks of it.
Remember nowhere is absolutely perfect and to paraphrase the old cliche ‘the grass always looks greener on the other side’, whether it’s upping sticks to another part of this country or completely abroad lock stock and barrel.
Also what a provocative username from a person who sounds like they have a blatant hatred of Lichfield.
Seems obvious to me that somewhere need not be perfect to be better than somewhere else. Any ‘bashing’ is being done by those in government. The direction of travel for this country is downhill all the way.
And of course due to many members of the general public having been caught napping during pretty much every election over the past 12 years or so, which has largely contributed to keeping the current bunch of jokers in power for far too long now.
Moved to Lichfield from Birmingham last year , I’m early 50,s with youngest being 12, I can honestly say it’s a breath of fresh air living here , friendly , safe and a beautiful city , park and atmosphere ..compared to council estates all our lives this is nice don’t knock it count your blessings and enjoy ..spend some money in the town if you can , keep it all going and open ..
The amount of old people here is really disproportional. When ever someone makes a comment on it, its received with ‘ohhh you’re being ageist…” but honestly where do they all come from?
Well said Lee!
Oh Lee don’t let the lefties on here hear you talk negatively about council estates! That’s their ambition for Lichfield to ever increase social housing and the Council only want to build soulless estates of small houses.
I would like to leave a comment about the old people here. My husband, and our one son moved here in the early 1960’s our son was two he is now coming up to being of old age. We had our younger son in 1964 so he actually is a Lichfield citizen by right. We his parents have had a good life here my husband and I are 86 so coming to live here was the best thing we could have done. A lot of Brummies young married with families came here as well, Birmingham paid Lichfield so they could afford to build the houses for us to live in. My husband was a Postman and went round all the villages delivering till he retired and I have always worked till we were in our 70’s we have earnt our retirement in Lichfield. And we believe we have earnt the right to live here in the peace Lichfield has given us and so have the Brummies who moved here as well.
People forger (or never learned) the history of Lichfield and similar communities in the sixties. New housing estates were built on a grand scale and at a substantially lower price than houses nearer to cities. They were designed to attract commuters. Lichfield, Burntwood, Brownhills, Tamworth and many other places were consumed by the influx. It was an age of change and continues to this day.
The thought that some belong and others don’t is as outdated as our immigration policies and the multi cultural society we now live in. This is the new Lichfield. There is much scope for further expansion… and so it will.
The population here is obviously old, really old. That comes with disadvantages and that’s a fact. Don’t expect vibrancy, innovation, affluent up and coming fresh developments from people in retirement that spend their days pottering about who don’t contribute anymore.
Jon – Where is the evidence to suggest the population is “really old”? facts require more than unfounded statements.
The figures from 2017 show the 65+ to be this.
https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Care-for-all-ages/Information-for-providers/Market-Intelligence/Market-position-statement-intelligence/Staffordshire-population-demographics/Population-demographics-and-adult-social-care-needs-all-adults.aspx
@Jon, and various others on this site,
You really do seem to have a problem with ‘old’ people, despite the fact that, if you are really lucky, you might make it to be an ‘old’ person yourself one day.
And a lot of old people have paid their dues to society, they have worked all their lives, and have earned the right to ‘potter about’.
As for not contributing, a lot of old people still pay taxes on their income.
So, to sum up, as the saying goes – get over it !
I think if you’ve lived in other parts of the country its very easy to see what this aged population doesn’t offer.
Not much of a professor are you – average age here is 44. That and old age index is statistically significant compared with the UK average across males and females. An imbalance exists between lots of elderly and a low birth rate here. Factor in the effects of urban ageing and my point stands loud and clear.
Just contemplate all you Young Ones. In 20/30 years you also will be old ones too. Don’t worry todays old ones will be dead and gone. So there will be plenty of room for you.
Great theme for a Movie… lol ..
What a miserable bunch of comments! A lot of you don’t realise just how lucky you are to live in such a pleasant place as Lichfield. True, it’s not perfect but nowhere is. As for those of you moaning about old people – get a life! you will be old one day and if younger generations follow your selfish examples you will then be vilified and deserve it. What’s wrong with building social housing in Lichfield? Are you really saying that people who can’t afford to buy their own houses don’t deserve to live here? If so Lichfield would be a better and more tolerant place if you took you and your views somewhere else. If you can’t see a doctor straight away, try living in an inner city area where doctors are truly in short supply and then blame the last 12 years of government for not funding necessary NHS staffing levels, rather than people daring to live too long. Why bash Fradley? It’s a decent place, like the Lichfield area it’s probably got a mix of mostly pleasant people and a few idiots.
@Jon, average age of 44 equates to a “really old” population?
As you are presumably a young, vibrant and innovative individual, what suggestion would you make to resolve the problem of an ageing population? And could it be applied to any other population groups that you have a problem with?
The median age of the UK population is about 41, so Lichfield is a little older than average. I would guess that the new developments will bring it down a bit, as they seem to be targeted at families with children. The idea that Lichfield is full of none but elderly people is something of an exaggeration.