Ten weeks ago we received our copy of the City of York Council’s ‘Our City - February 2021’. I’m afraid I only gave it a desultory flick-through but read it much later. I read each issue of The Press far more promptly!

My wife drew my attention to page 13: ‘Census facts. At the time of the last census...’. One amazing stat on that page stood out. ‘York was made up of 252 different ethnicities’. That’s remarkable; something to celebrate. I imagine the universities made a significant contribution. I wonder if the 2021 Census will beat that incredible 252 figure; possibly not!

Another noteworthy finding from ten years ago was that after the UK, the top country of birth for people residing in York was Poland. That particular bullet point adds that other than English or Welsh, Polish was the most spoken language in York with 1577 respondents listing it as their ‘primary tongue’. I’ve a feeling that there sadly might be a drop in that number since then.

The last striking point listed was that back then York ‘boasted’ 577 households with two or more families. Has that changed and in which direction?

As a ‘Yorkie’ born and bred, I value this richness and diversity.

Derek Reed, Middlethorpe Drive, York