All three types of social capital are important to a strong community and finding the right
balance between them is seen as crucial, as is the number of people participating in a particular
social network (NCVO 2003). For example, bonding ties with family, friends and
neighbours act as a social support safety net. However, without bridging capital, bonded
groups become isolated from the rest of society and from groups with which bridging
must occur in order to increase social capital. Bridging ties with people from different networks
thus provides access to opportunities and information. Linking social capital meanwhile
enables members of a community to leverage a far wider range of resources than may
be locally available.