Norwich’s veggie and vegan restaurants help city bag ‘woke’ award

Norwich has been named as one of the most progressive cities in the UK. Picture: Ian Burt (Image: Archant)

Apparently the people of Norwich are among Britain's most 'woke'.

'Woke' - for those who are perhaps not sure - is a term to denote "being alert to social injustices".

The report by mortgage advisor Bankrate, which put Norwich 14th on the list, took into account seven factors including voter turnout, council diversity and recycling rates.

Norwich's highest score was for the amount of vegan and vegetarian restaurants scoring 4.5 out of five.

This was followed by recycling rates at 3.1 and a balanced gender pay gap score of 2.9.

Norwich also scored well in the amount of people searching the internet for progressive terminology such as volunteering, climate change, feminism and human rights.

Areas where the city could look to improve include voter turnout with a score of 2.7, electric vehicle registration at 2.1 and council diversity also at 2.1.

Norwich came in behind cities including Brighton, Bath, Cambridge and Bristol.

However it was ahead of Edinburgh, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham and Liverpool.

Stefan Gurney, chief executive of the Norwich BID, was pleased the city had been attracting a lot of positive attention recently.

He said: "It's great news that Norwich again is recognised as a modern city that embraces many of the key issues that shape our cities and communities. The report tells us what we that live and work in Norwich already know, that the data reflects our passion and 'wokeness' on social and environmental issues."

And he added that Norwich's social conscience is having an economic benefit: "Norwich is a growing commercial city that has all the infrastructure and skills required for businesses to thrive, so Norwich is developing a reputation as a great city to work in and attracting the best talent from across the UK and abroad."