Left on the shelf - October 2025
What people tell us about why Surrey’s library independence courses and community centres go unused.
We wanted to find out why take up of Surrey County Council's independence courses were low and why there has been a downturn in community centre attendance.
34 Surrey residents spoke to us at 3 community settings - the Spire Café in Farnham, Roots Café in Epsom and Oasis group in Camberley – and via a survey.
Our findings
Whist some people were interested in attending the library independence courses, few had heard of them.
The majority of people had heard of community/social centres, less than half had visited.
Our report gives some recommendations on how to raise awareness, not only of the services provided but also on transport options.
Left on the shelf - October 2025
File download
Left on the shelf - October 2025 (pdf)
Left on the shelf - October 2025 (word)
"I will be referring my mum to the course as she is very vulnerable to financial scams.”
