People of Hastings and St Leonards: Penny Pepper
This week KATHRYN SUTTER met Penny Pepper, author, poet, and disability activist who has called St Leonards home for the past five years.
Like many people who end up in Hastings Penny felt a draw to the town, visiting for a fair few years before making the move. ‘I started visiting Hastings regularly in 2009 and was a part-timer for several years with a caravan at Beauport Park. There was just something about the town; I already knew several people who had made the move, so it felt right that this would become my home. About a year after I arrived, I went to a Heritage Open Day event and there met my now best friend Theresa and my partner Kev. We all instantly clicked and the more I was here the more I knew I wanted to be here.’
Hastings’ creativity has helped and influenced Penny’s ongoing work. ‘I’m principally a writer and my work covers many genres and includes poetry, fiction, and songwriting. In the 80s I had a music career and lived a bit of a rock-and-roll lifestyle. My writing now is focused on a monthly column for the Byline Times and several ongoing projects. One of these includes a novel The Widow of Rock-a-Nore, which will be my first work of fiction based in Hastings.’
Penny is also firmly rooted in the community and is involved in several projects across the town focused on disability activism. ‘As a disabled woman, I have never let anything stand in my way. I was born in a generation where activism was developed – the punk era – where more radical thoughts about disability as an equalities issue and rights issue became key. Throughout my life, I’ve been involved in many demonstrations and marches to stand up for the rights of disabled people and set up Hastings Access to Venues and Events with my best friend Theresa, who is visually impaired.
‘The aim of the group is to work with venues to make sure that disabled people from all impairment groups have access to great things going on across the town. We can advise on things like large print menus or which ramps would work at different venues. It’s never just about individual need but community need, there is always going to be someone who could benefit from simple adjustments. I have recently been supporting the campaign to fund a lift at the Clifton Centre in St Leonards to ensure that all events that are run there are accessible to all.’
To finish our chat Penny shared her favourite and least favourite things about the town. ‘The worst thing about living here is sadly the fact that the town is not particularly well set up for wheelchair users. For example, it would be great to be able to go on the beach – this could be done quite easily with further consultation about beach matting – but the council seems reluctant to do this. There are so many things which are great about the town and I really do think we have an encouraging community here. Although a lot of openness and friendliness stems from creatives, the edges are blurred and we have a thriving community made up of many different groups of people. Now my home is here I never want to leave!’
Find out more about Penny on her website: pennypepper.co.uk
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