Dramatic change in the number of times public sector workers are thanked in Newcastle

From 54 days since they last received a ‘thank you’ to just 6 days – but on Public Service Day is it enough?

A remarkable turnaround in the way Newcastle people feel about public sector workers has been underlined by a survey – which says appreciation for them has increased 89 per cent in the space of a year.

Just 12 months ago a survey by public sector membership club Boundless asked public sector workers in Newcastle Upon Tyne when they were last thanked for the doing their job.

It was commissioned in the build-up to UN Public Service Day, which falls on 23 June, and shockingly revealed that the average key worker in the region had gone 54 days without a ‘thank you’.

Now the same survey has been repeated ahead of this year’s Public Service Day – and the figure has dropped to just six days.

That figure represents a major shift in the way key workers are appreciated in the region, leaving Newcastle eighth in the list of the country’s most appreciative cities.

Strangely, however, when public sector workers in the city were asked whether they felt appreciated, just 30 per cent said they did. That’s three percentages down on last year’s figure of 33 per cent.

And more than 27 per cent that they didn’t feel appreciated ‘at all’.

Those figures were similar across the whole of the North East region, where 32 per cent felt appreciated but 27 per cent said ‘not at all’.

The same survey also revealed:

• Refuse collectors are seen by people in Newcastle as the most under-appreciated profession, for the second year in a row.
• Civil service workers were next on the list (up from only seventh last year) followed by carers, nurses and bus drivers
•  71 per cent of NHS workers across the country say they feel appreciated by the public – it was only 48 per cent last year.

Now the people of Newcastle are being encouraged to step up their appreciation for key workers by supporting Public Service Day.

The day, officially launched by the United Nations as long ago as 2003, has barely been recognised in the UK so far.

However, Boundless, which was founded in 1923, wants to change things.

It aims to bring the UK together to celebrate the contribution made to society by millions of public service workers, from nurses to teachers, firefighters to administrators and police officers to care workers.

Darren Milton at Boundless said: “This year Public Service Day falls on Tuesday 23 June and it’s a wonderful opportunity for people in Newcastle Upon Tyne to remind their public service workers that we won’t forget what they have done for us. Not least during the last few months.

“The figures coming back from our survey are hugely encouraging because they show that millions of people have been saying ‘thank you,’ and doing so far more often than a year ago.

“In Newcastle it’s wonderful to see that public sector workers are being thanked more often than last year.

“But despite that, less than a third of public sector workers say they feel appreciated by the public, and that shows there is still work to do.

“That’s why we don’t want the appreciation to stop when the pandemic is over. The next step is to back Public Service Day and to think about ways that we can value our public sector workers long into the future.”

The most under-appreciated professions according to people in Newcastle in 2020 are:

1 Refuse collectors 38% (last year 1st)

2 Civil Service 24% (last year 7th)

3 Nurses 22% (last year 2nd))

3 Care workers 22% (last year 3rd)

3 Bus drivers 22% (last year 6th)

6 Teachers 19% (last year 5th)

7 Fire 19% (last year 8th)

8 Police 16% (last year 4th)

8 HMRC 16% (last year 10th)

8 Lollipop crossing guards 16% (last year 12th)

The cities where public sector workers are thanked most often

1 Edinburgh: 2.5 days since workers were last thanked

2 Brighton 3.5

3 Cardiff 4

4 Nottingham 4

5 Belfast 5

5 Manchester 5

7 Southampton 5.5

8 Newcastle 6

8 Liverpool 6

8 London 6

11 Sheffield 9

12 Birmingham 10

For more information, please visit www.boundless.co.uk/publicserviceday2020

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Editors notes

Boundless is a membership club for civil service and public sector workers who are looking for inspiration on getting the most out of their free time. With a heritage and expertise dating back more than 90 years, Boundless offers its 230,000 members deals on hundreds of unique experiences, events, volunteer activities and things to do. It’s also mutual, so all profits go straight back into the club to benefit members.