‘Oh, I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside’, was written in 1907 by Mark Sherridan. It’s lyrics could be heard throughout the Twentieth Century sung by the crowds of travelling holiday makers and weekend breakers visiting England’s seaside towns. But since the 1970s, when seaside holidays abroad became the new trend, you’ll not likely hear it sung in England anymore.
What has this meant for our seaside towns? The explosion of cheap holidays to Spain and Greece mean more planes leaving Gatwick and fewer coaches of urban sea-seekers pulling into seaside towns. Summer weekends still draw in the odd coach, but can’t keep seaside towns afloat.
The seaside town tourist economies, even when booming, are not the most prosperous. A recent report called ‘The Communities on the Edge’, has found that coastal areas are indeed often among the most deprived in the UK. It explains that fewer jobs in seaside towns require graduate level qualifications and part-time and seasonal work in hospitality doesn’t properly support a local economy. The BBC recently reported that seaside towns generally have lower English and Maths GCSE pass rates. It seems that both the education and economic systems in seaside towns are failing their residents.
On top of this, tourism actually bumps prices up! As a sought-after destination, Brighton and Hove has been hugely affected by London’s economic influence. House prices and rent are close to those in London. Yet, Brighton doesn’t have the same prosperous economy. In fact, as a tourist town, the low-paid hospitality sector is one of the biggest employers, and nobody in Brighton receives London weighting. The BBC reported there are normally fewer council houses in seaside towns, with residents more often paying higher rent in privately rented accommodation. Paying close to London prices on Brighton wages is not the easiest lifestyle financially.
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty’s 2022 report also revealed ways in which coastal towns are deprived. Concentrating on five seaside towns including Hastings, his report found that resorts have a low life expectancy and high rates of chronic disease and mental health problems. The BBC has also said that coastal towns regularly suffer from higher depression and suicide rates as well as higher alcohol-related hospitalisation rates.
It seems that the seaside situation is one of deprivation, weak local economies, ill-health and fewer recourses to improve the situation. A credit union is an ethical financial system designed to support local communities. Wave Community Bank is committed to protecting local money and our local community in East Sussex, Kent and Medway. Putting people before profits, our co-operative style of banking enables money to circulate through our community to where it is most needed.
Our model also turns borrowers into savers and is designed to improve credit ratings as we tailor repayments to suit borrowers circumstances. We’d all ‘like to be beside the seaside’ a little more if we were financially more comfortable, and Wave Community Bank provides the ethical alternative and works to improve the financial resilience of our communities.
