The census is coming. By taking part, you can help inform decisions about services that shape our community, such as healthcare, education and transport. It’s important that you fill in your census questionnaire because it gives us the most detailed information we have about our society.

Without the information you share, it’d be more difficult to understand our community’s needs and plan and fund public services. Ahead of Census Day (Sunday 21 March), the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will send you a letter in the post with an access code and instructions. You can do your census online as soon as you get yours. If your household circumstances change on Census Day, you can let the ONS know.

The ONS aim to make things as easy as possible for everyone, but if you need help taking part in the census, there’s a wide range of support services available. You can request support for yourself, or someone else, including:

• guidance and help in many languages and formats
• a paper version of the questionnaire, if you prefer
• accessible census guidance, for example, in braille

There is a help area on the census website. It covers everything from who to include on the questionnaire to how to answer each question. If you cannot find what you need there, there’s a dedicated contact centre where census staff will be on hand to give help over the phone, in a web chat or on social media.

If you need help, visit www.census.gov.uk.