Jaywick has been in the news quite a lot recently, even national news. Often it is in relation to the Indices of Multiple Deprivation that come out every year in which it is fair to say that Jaywick has not ranked particularly highly. 

There were some welcome improvements in areas like income and unemployment rates in the most recent results, however, overall the scores were still very low. In fact, for the fourth consecutive time since 2010, Jaywick was listed as the most deprived neighbourhood in England.

While it is sad that things are not improving as quickly as we might like, I have been saying for some time now that times are changing in Jaywick. One thing that’s driving this change is the one thing that hasn’t changed and that’s the remarkable and positive community spirit in the area.

I am constantly impressed by all the good work that the Jaywick Sands Community Forum does whether it’s their food bank, baby bank, the women’s poverty scheme or indeed all the fundraising they do to support local charities. In fact, time is running out for you to get tickets to their White Collar Boxing event next month. I’ve already purchased mine (in fact £1000 worth of them!), so what are you waiting for? 

Another great success story has been The Sunspot business centre which I think the council rightly deserves some credit for. I had the chance to visit it last weekend, mainly to help cut the ribbon for the opening of Flappy Joe’s, and it was great to see the thriving businesses there with just one empty unit left in the whole of the building. I also popped into the cake shop whilst I was there and I was pleased to hear that business is so good that they’re rushed off their feet. 

It’s things like this that, despite the statistics, make me feel very positive for the future of Jaywick. It’s on the up, believe me.