Background Information




Sevenoaks is situated about 20 miles south east of London, in rural Kent. Sevenoaks can be described as a fairly traditional town, with some light industry, shopping areas, many churches, pubs and restaurants. The Town centre is becoming more modern with the high street full of young people most Saturday evenings, making use of the larger number of bars, clubs, pubs and eateries. There are reasonable leisure centres in the area. It is close to the M25/M26 interchange and there are two rail stations in the area. Many residents commute to London for work and many teenagers commute to schools in Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells. Typically people tend to move away to further education or jobs at nineteen and cannot afford to move back until they are in their thirties. This tends towards an elderly and conservative community in some of the villages and churches. The young people who live in the villages often feel that there is nothing for them as they cannot easily get transport in to the town, and indeed meeting young people on the street in villages is just as important as town centre work.

The SEVENOAKS AREA YOUTH TRUST or SAYT has grown out of the Churches Together in Sevenoaks and District, which covers the area of the town and over 10 village communities, equating to two Church of England Deaneries, or some 40 churches of all local denominations.

Urban and rural areas include pockets of great wealth, but also of great deprivation. Whether from rich or poor background, young people in the area are no strangers to the problems of family breakdown, teenage pregnancy, drugs, alcohol abuse, and violence. Recently, the suicide rate for 16-20 year old males was over twice the national average.

It is recognised that this initiative cannot be successful in isolation and that it needs the ongoing support of churches, Christians, Youth Leaders and other agencies. In particular the successful Youth Worker will develop and nurture a wide base of contacts and volunteers in each village/area to work alongside and eventually in some cases leave local volunteers to carry on the work after sufficient experience and training.