For decades, the Isle of Sheppey has been the butt of jokes and the subject of derision. Historically affected by poverty and crime, and often forgotten about by the rest of the county, the Island and its Blue Flag beaches are rarely considered a tourist destination hotspot.

But as senior reporter Megan Carr discovered, there is a lot more to the Island than most people think – she found out more as she went in search of the two Sheppeys.

According to the government’s latest deprivation research, Sheppey is one of the poorest places in not only Kent but the UK.

In 2018 Public Health England found the number of people who were in long-term unemployment, smoked, and were pregnant under the age of 18, was above the national average.

The percentage of adults classified as overweight or obese was also higher than the average as was the percentage of Year 6 children falling into the obese or severely obese category.

It was also found for those living in west and east Sheppey, their life expectancy was around nine years lower for men, and approximately four years lower for women, than for those living in the least deprived areas. But why is this?

I spoke with Esther Hurwood, the project manager at Swale Foodbank, to find out more.

The 45-year-old said: “There are people who never leave the Island and that potentially could feed into the health inequalities.

“Residents don’t leave, even if they've got something seriously wrong with them.

“They won’t go to Medway hospital, our nearest A&E, they'll only go to their GP or the minor hospital in Minster, and that's as far as they'll go. They won’t come off the Island.”

Esther and her team have gone out of their way to try and deal with this problem.

She added: “This summer just gone we took some families who had never left Sheppey on coach trips off the Island to break the pattern.

“Hopefully that means that when crisis comes, they've already gone over the bridge, they've come to the mainland and they know nothing bad is going to happen.”

However, throughout her years at the foodbank, Esther has noted it isn’t all doom and gloom for the Island and its inhabitants.

She continued: “We know there is a stigma around Sheppey, an enmity between the Island and the mainland, and we work really hard to try and bridge that.

“We don't want there to be a divide, but we recognise there is one at the moment.

“If someone is saying negative things about Sheppey, I challenge them by saying ‘look at how much good there is going on here, look at the community spirit, look at the many organisations that work just for Sheppey’.

“There’s lots of really good stuff that you can say about the Island so don't believe the discourse that you might hear because it’s not necessarily true.”

But some Islanders disagree with Esther as I discovered when speaking to shoppers in Sheerness High Street.

I asked what things first came to mind when I said ‘Sheppey’. Some said horrible kids, others that it was rundown and one person even said s***.

But Karen Armitage disagreed and honed in on what Esther had said.

The 59-year-old, who moved to the town in 1992, explained that she felt like the area had deteriorated over the years.

However, for her Sheppey meant beautiful beaches and its historic clock tower.

She said: “It just needs a facelift and the shops of Sheerness need to be tidied up.

“But the people of Sheppey are very polite and kind.”

Jenny Hurkett, the founder of the Criterion Blue Town Heritage Museum, amplified the kindness and community spirit Karen had spoken about.

The 75-year-old and her husband Ian took over the historic building when their kitchen showroom and warehouse buildings flooded in 2004.

After gaining interest from local history groups which noted the property dated back to 1841, Jenny began collecting artifacts from the Island’s history and documenting the importance Sheppey played in the past.

The museum, which is mostly run by volunteers, would not exist without the community, and after having a look around it was clear that everything had been donated.

Jenny said: “We’ve got more than 10,000 items in our archives and a collection of over 1,000 postcards from Sheppey donated to us.

“People value what we do and that is proved in the kindness that they show.

“When we were struggling during Covid, I had envelopes with money popped through the letterbox to try and help us keep going because this place means a lot to so many people.

“If we all looked after our own little bit of Sheppey, it would be fantastic.

“We’ve all got our own communities, but maybe we could put those aside sometimes and actually work as ‘team Sheppey’.”

Jenny feels the Island gets an undeserved negative reputation.

She added: “We still can't work out why our history hasn’t been recognised. Sheppey is home to the birthplace of British aviation, the Royal Naval Air Service started here, I mean that is huge.

“It was the first aviation factory in the world and the only place in the world where anchor trials have taken place.

“Because of its position on the Thames and the Medway Estuary, there were more than 100 minesweepers stationed in Queenborough. The role Sheerness Dockyard played in Dunkirk with the little ships, why hasn't it been told?”

Jenny, who lives above the museum, thinks the reputation problems began when the Dockyard closed in 1960.

She explained: “Before the closure, there was full employment, this Island was thriving, we had all sorts of things and community activities from the donkey derby to week-long carnivals, the whole place was buzzing.

“But the Island floundered, quite a lot of negative press came about at that time and we also lost our identity of being a unitary authority as the Island became part of Swale, so people really didn't know how to focus on Sheppey and it just went into decline.”

Just 20 miles away by road, and in the same borough, is Faversham, another historic town that is recognised for very different reasons.

But the residents don’t seem to have the same feelings about Sheppey as the people living there do.

Declan McDaid said prisons were the first thing that came to mind when asked about it.

However, the 57-year-old soon recalled fond memories of Queenborough and explained the Island was great for birdwatching.

Alan, 56, also mentioned the wildlife and natural history while 38-year-old Jamie, who worked on the Island for two years, said the area was underfunded.

But this isn’t necessarily the case. In 2023 Sheppey was given £20 million from the government's levelling-up fund to help revamp Sheerness’s seafront.

The cash will go towards transforming the area with a new cafe and adventure golf course to freshen up the town.

Swale council says the money will be spent on improving health, education, leisure, and employment opportunities.

The scheme will expand the existing Healthy Living Centre, off Royal Road, with new activities such as soft play, adventure golf, TAG active, a new café and an outdoor gym at Beachfields.

Sheppey College in Bridge Road will offer new courses for 14 to 18-year-olds. The conversion of former council offices Master’s House in Trinity Road into studios for creatives is also included in the bid.

The funding will also deliver improvements from the railway station to the leisure complex and better connections between the seafront and high street to encourage visitors to explore more of the town.

So why are there still nasty assumptions about the Island despite the work that’s being put into the area?

Janys Thornton, the treasurer of Sheppey Little Theatre, a charity which provides a venue for amateur performance groups, thinks it’s because many people stirring the negativity haven’t even been to Sheppey.

The 64-year-old said: “This is something that really winds me up when people say bad things.

“I'll say ‘have you ever been’ and they say they ‘don't want to go’. They think that's a clever answer, but it isn't is it, it just means that you're just ignorant of what there is here.

“We are getting people coming to our shows from places like Maidstone and Medway, and they do say ‘oh we didn't know it was like this on the Island’, and they are surprised, that there are sort of cultural things going on, and that you can walk down the street without being mugged.

“It isn’t like the Wild West that they seem to think it is.”

Her husband, 63-year-old Jeremy, is secretary of the theatre.

He added: “The community is very supportive, once they know we’re here they are very supportive.

“We’ve tried to help everybody in the community, and they give it back in very big measures, and people love it here.

“We had a panto recently and we always have the same panto company.

“They always make an announcement saying this is a lovely theatre and that it’s all run by volunteers, and a few people gave donations even though they’d paid for their tickets.

“The tickets aren’t cheap-cheap anymore, unfortunately, but they still gave donations.”

After speaking to just a few of the people who are working tirelessly to improve the image of Sheppey, I was full of a new admiration for the Island.

I came away with new knowledge about its past and have learned of the exciting things that are coming in its future.

I genuinely don’t think enough residents living in the towns and villages across Sheppey truly appreciate the wonderful place they live.

Like Jenny, Janys, Esther and Jeremy said, the Island has so much going for it.

It has its problems but there are far worse places to live and visit.