When the Rev Jeanette McLaren saw there was a vacancy for a Sheerness town centre chaplain, she knew she had to apply.

After all, it was childhood trips to Sheppey which led her along to religion.

She said: “I know Sheerness very well because I used to holiday in Leysdown.

“I became a Christian through a mission which was evangelising through games and drama on the beach.

“Every year, we’d come back to Leysdown and I’d go to the beach to make contact with the mission.”

Mrs McLaren, 56, explained what her new role, which she will be carrying out two-and-a-half days a week through the West Sheppey Benefice, entails: “It involves making contact with residents, businesses and shops within the community, building bridges and being a representative of the church in the town centre.”

Based in the High Street at the Holy Trinity vicarage, she said friends were surprised to hear she had left a position at St Michael’s Church in Biggin Hill to come to Sheppey.

She said: “I think it’s a beautiful and quirky little island.

“I spent nine years in Brixton so I enjoy living in challenging and quirky places.

“I would say it’s an island of contrasts – it has its issues, social and economic, but there’s also a lot of really exciting stuff to engage with, such as the Beachfields regeneration project and cultural stuff like Big Fish Arts.”

Mrs McLaren, who is married to the Rev Chris Baker, a counsellor at Greenwich University, said she will be easily recognisable around town, not just because of her dog collar, but the pet which is always in tow – Nelson, her border terrier.

Outside of her ecclesiastical activities, sailing, literature and theatre are among her interests.

She and her husband sailed around Britain three years ago in the aptly named Pilgrim, which she said will soon be moored in Queenborough.

However, Mrs McLaren said she has no intention of setting sail for a new mission just yet.

She said: “It’s an open-ended book, but I see myself staying on the Island for a number of years.”