Needs Analysis 2022 FLIP - Manual / Resource - Page 37
DEPRIVATION
35
Tunbridge Wells ranks least deprived in the county.
273
253
188
Maidstone
236
185
Canterbury
50
98
Childhood First is a charity for severely
traumatised children.
Hester was an only child, born to successful
professional parents, both with a history of
emotional or mental instability.
Hester came to Childhood First at 16 when she
entered an acute period of suicidal depression.
She was self-harming in a life-threatening way,
uncommunicative, distracted, an insomniac and
refusing all food and drink.
Tunbridge Wells
Sevenoaks
Tonbridge & Malling
Ashford
Dartford
Gravesham
Dover
Medway
0
84
69
100
107
119
145
152
150
CASE STUDY
Slow broadband in rural areas and across Tunbridge
Wells has hampered digital access during the prolonged
period of working and being educated at home creating
a ‘digital divide’ for some. Those disadvantaged with
little or no access to technology have been further
disadvantaged as everything, including some GP
services, moved online.
200
Folkestone & Hythe
3. Increase availability of local services in rural
areas and improve community transport and
digital access
Tunbridge Wells suffers from poor rural transport
links and no direct east to west train service; for those
living in Hawkhurst and Cranbrook, services based in
Maidstone are often more accessible than those in
Tunbridge Wells, so planning services is challenging.
250
Swale
2. Stabilise the local business economy post
pandemic including youth employment,
enterprise, and sector diversity
Tunbridge Wells ranks in the top three in measures that
indicate vulnerability in the local economy, including
the highest ranking for employee job change in all
industries.181 These are early warning signs that post
pandemic recovery may be challenging.
300
34
Tunbridge Wells ranks in
the top three indicators for vulnerability in
the local economy
A rank of 1 on the table below, is the most deprived.
There are 333 local authorities in England.
Thanet
3
rd
“Hester’s early weeks with us were a challenge.
She was repeatedly taken to the local A&E
department having self-harmed, and was placed
on suicide watch. But as the weeks went by,
relationships began to form with her keyworker
and with other young people in the community.
Slow broadband in rural areas and across
Tunbridge Wells has hampered digital
access during the prolonged period of
working and being educated at home
creating a ‘digital divide’ for some.
below the national average in terms of children achieving
ars Foundation Stage
“With a highly structured community life and
tailored care plan, and with a great deal of
therapeutic attention, Hester began to feel safe.
Every detail of her behaviour and communications
was subject to consideration and challenge by the
group, and by our therapeutically trained care staff.
“Hester found such attention and challenge, day in
day out, deeply healing. She gradually learned to
trust and to rely on the support of others and the
insights and feelings which they provoked in her.”
NEEDS ANALYSIS
