How much do you know about Wakefield? The City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, as well as the wider Wakefield District, has lots of fun facts, statistics and other interesting tidbits of information that you might not know.

• Wakefield is home to the National Coal Mining Museum, which is on the site of the former Caphouse Colliery. The museum offers visitors the chance to go underground and experience the working conditions miners had to endure, as well as the machinery and tools they used. 
• The Wakefield District has a population of 357,729 people, according to the ONS 2022 population estimate. To put that into perspective, Wakefield’s population could fill Wembley Stadium nearly four times over. 
• Wakefield Museum, located in the Wakefield One building on Burton St, was opened by David Attenborough in 2013. Attenborough is an admirer of Charles Waterton (1782–1865), who was born in Walton and lived at Walton Hall in what is now the Waterton Park Hotel. There, he established the world’s first nature reserve, which was visited by Charles Darwin, who is famous for his theory of evolution of natural selection. 
• The Beatles played at ABC Cinema, which was located in Kirkgate before its closure in 1997. The famous Liverpudlian band had only released one single—Love Me Do—before their Wakefield gig, and their visit was before they reached global stardom.
• In the Middle Ages, Wakefield was dubbed the ‘Merrie City’, as it was a bustling market town and important centre of trade. Despite being around 500 years ago, the nickname has stuck. 
• The famous nursery rhyme ‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’ supposedly comes from Wakefield Prison, which was built in 1594. The rhyme was apparently sung by female prisoners who used to exercise around a mulberry bush in the prison yard. Unfortunately, the tree died in 2017 and had to be removed in 2019, but staff at the prison took a cutting from the original tree and hope to replace it. 
• The tallest church in Yorkshire is our very own Wakefield Cathedral, which has a 247-foot (75-metre) spire. This makes it the tallest structure in the City of Wakefield. The oldest part of the building dates back to 1150. 
• The district is home to Pontefract Cakes, which are traditional British liquorice sweets shaped like a coin and stamped with an image of Pontefract Castle. They are often called Pomfrey or Pomfret Cakes. 
• Wakefield is famously part of the Rhubarb Triangle, which is a 9-square-mile area of West Yorkshire, between Wakefield, Morley, and Rothwell, famous for producing rhubarb. The UK’s only festival in celebration of rhubarb is held in Wakefield every year, with live music, tasty treats, fun activities and, of course, rhubarb! 

Another fact about Wakefield: did you know that there are 6,000 children across the Wakefield District who don’t have a bed to sleep in at night? 

Our local community is plagued by bed poverty, where so many of our District’s children are going to sleep on the floor, in a bath, on a camping bed or blow up mattress, or they’re forced to share a bed with one or more of their siblings. As a result, they don’t get a good night’s sleep or wake up feeling rested. They find it difficult to concentrate in school, leading to a drop in grades, which teachers might attribute to issues with behaviour, rather than the true root of the problem. 

This is part of a much wider issue, where over 12,000 children in Wakefield (19.2%) come form low income families and are classed as living in relative poverty. In fact, the number of children living in low-income families has increased by 34% over the past five years in the Wakefield District.

The rise in child poverty is a nationwide issue, but there are systemic problems specific to Wakefield that exacerbate the problem. Wakefield is the 54th most deprived in England (out of 317 total districts). Almost 16% of the district’s population (around 54,200 people) live in neighbourhoods amongst the top-10% most deprived in England. One aggravating factor might be that average earnings in the Wakefield District are lower than regional and national rates. Median gross earnings for full-time workers across the whole of England amount to £35,100. The median across the Yorkshire and Humber region is £32,080, but in the Wakefield District, the median is just £29,966, according to data from 2023. 

The result of many of these issues is that life expectancy for both men and women in Wakefield is lower than the England average. 

The Community Foundation for Wakefield District provides immediate, judgment-free support to local people in need. We specialise in helping those who fall through the cracks—whether they are individuals, families, minorities, or other vulnerable groups. 

One of the ways we support the community is through the donation of goods and financial support. Each year, we redistribute the equivalent of £250,000+ back into the district’s economy. 

Our retail arm, The Community Give Box, plays a vital role in donating more than it sells, ensuring that resources reach those who need them most.

As an independent charity, we do not receive funding from the government. Across Yorkshire and the Humber, the voluntary sector receives proportionally less funding than many other regions. When taking into account population and deprivation levels, it becomes clear that there is a significant north/south funding divide. According to data from 2021, the government funding national average is £835 per person. In London, that rises to an average of £2552 per person.

In Yorkshire, the average is just £374 per person. 

That’s why we, like many other charities, have to rely on fundraising. 47% of all voluntary sector income comes from individual giving. Across the year, we host many different fundraising activities and campaigns, and we encourage your support wherever possible. 

Here are some different ways in which you can support our charity so that we can continue to help communities across the entire Wakefield District.

Find out more about what we do and how we do it. You can also read some of our case studies about past projects, funding and donations.