A seaside town commonly known as most deprived area in the country left a visiting American stunned – for all the right reasons.
Jaywick is often highlighted as one of the poorest spots in the country. A United Nations expert visited the village in 2018 to highlight the UK’s “extreme poverty”. Donald Trump even used an image of a rundown part of the area as part of a poverty campaign.
But not everyone feels the same about the seaside spot. Drew Binsky, who has visited every country on Earth – from Somalia to Iran – has a very different take on the the run-down Essex town.
Looking out on Jaywick’s beach, Drew said: “It’s amazing – it’s one of the only sandy beaches in the whole country.” That might be a stretch, given the beautiful coastlines in the likes of Devon, Cornwall and Norfolk. But it still marks an immediate viewpoint change of Jaywick.
“I’m excited to check out the beach,” Drew added. “Even in the off-season, there’s something raw and real about an empty shoreline. Seeing it like this gives me a different perspective on Jaywick. One that’s eerie, but also kind of special.
He was also overwhelmed with the poverty-stricken town’s sense of community. Guided around Jaywick by local character Danny Sloggett, Drew was in awe of the resilience and good humour of people who have made a life for themselves in Jaywick “despite floods, drugs, and the town’s tough reputation.”
Danny is intensely proud of his home town. “I’ve lived here since 1986,” he told Drew. “They say Jaywick’s very deprived, but I think it’s very good because the houses are cheap. There’s people in London paying half a million pounds for a house – in Jaywick, we pay £50,000.”
Many of the houses are in seriously poor condition, though, many of them constructed of asbestos sheeting and riddled with mould.
Jaywick was originally conceived as a holiday village in the 1920s, but after the Second World War, many of those holiday homes became permanent residences due to a housing shortage. Conditions can be “really harsh,” according to local Joanne Smallman, who told Channel 4 News: “If we don’t get out in the next couple of weeks, we won’t survive another winter.”
But nothing can dampen Danny’s spirits. He continued: “All I want is the world to know that Jaywick is a very nice place to live, beautiful community, and it’s not as bad as some people say.”
Showing Drew around the caravan park where, as a teenage tearaway, he went on a one-man crime spree, Danny added: “People come to Jaywick for holidays, so how can it be deprived?
Danny insists that many people in the UK have the wrong impression of Jaywalk: “They just see, statistically, that we’re deprived. But I don’t think that we are. So whoever says this doesn’t come to Jaywick [to see] for themselves.”
Drew agreed, saying: “You know, everybody talks s••• about Jaywick. I came here to try to see it’s really like, and I’m finding an amazing community.”
It’s certainly a tight-knit community. Danny continued: “When we have problems in Jaywick. We don’t phone the police. We phone each other and things are taken care of.”
Danny does admit, though, that he’s fallen foul of the law as a younger man, and was jailed eight times for minor offences such as handling stolen goods.
But he’s a reformed character now, and has become an ambassador for the town that is fighting to rebuild its grim reputation.
Certainly Drew was won over. “After spending time here, I see there’s more to the story,” he said.
The people are proud, even in tough conditions. And they’re not going anywhere. From Danny’s infectious energy to the town’s hidden quirks, Jaywick is full of surprises.
Drew concluded: “It might be England’s most neglected town. But to be honest, I kind of love it.”