/together started with questions rather than answers. Between July 2020 and February 2021 we conducted talk/together – the UK’s biggest ever conversation about what unites us and divides us, offering insight into how public attitudes have evolved as the Covid crisis unfolded.

Over 150,000 people took part, completing 78,790 open surveys, with 218 expert submissions, nearly 500 in-depth conversations and 68,500 partner engagements. The talk/together final report was published on Monday 1st March.

The final talk/together report finds that society has pulled together, not apart, as a result of the pandemic, and that people are keen to retain the best of the new community spirit that has emerged.

  • Despite periods of unease, the public responded by strengthening community connections
  • Most people got to know their neighbours better
  • An overwhelming majority want to keep the benefits of closer communities and build on them
  • A massive 12.4 million people volunteered during the pandemic, 4.6 million of them for the first time, of whom 75% would volunteer again

We found a clear public appetite for a society in which we are more connected to each other and the community spirit of 2020 is kept alive.
– Bishop Nick Baines, Chair of /together trustees

Executive Summary
Full Report