People of Hastings & St Leonards
Martin Symons
This week Kathryn Sutter spoke to Martin Symons about his history in the town and his work as Community Volunteering Coordinator at St Michael’s Hospice.
Martin began our conversation with his arrival in the town and the journey from teaching to his current position.
“I have an arts background and moved to St Leonards in 2001 to work as a Key Skills Tutor at Hastings College. I developed to be Head of Art and was around in the transition from the old college to the new site. I really loved working one-to-one with pupils and felt that teaching was where I had found my niche.”
“I was Head of Art for four years but eventually found the role too exhausting and took voluntary redundancy. I went back to the college briefly a few years later to be an art lecturer.”
Martin continued: “I had a lot of experience running different projects, putting exhibitions on etc so when a Project Assistant job came up at St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne in 2015, I decided to go for it. I enjoyed my time there and introduced new initiatives such as ‘Crafty Friday’ where different artists would come to the hospice to lead art workshops.
“When I saw a Wellbeing Programme Coordinator role come up at St Michael’s Hospice in St Leonards in 2019, I decided to go for it so I could work closer to home.
“In January 2022 I moved into a new role as Community Volunteering Coordinator as part of the hospice’s Compassionate Communities Team, which is all about increasing volunteering opportunities and looking for new ways to connect with the local community and collaborate.”
Martin explained the challenges, enjoyment and fulfillment he has found in this new role:
“A challenges. big part of my job is getting out into the community. As part of our current Follow that Duck Trail, we recently went out with a giant mobile duck around different places in the town and asked people to graffiti all over the duck in answer to the question ‘What are the most important things in your life?’ and ‘What does a compassionate community mean to you?’. It has been great meeting people across the town.
“We have also started new events at the hospice such as our Saturday Social event on the last Saturday of every month, an informal space to come together and connect with others. We are about to launch a ‘Shed Talk’ podcast where we meet up with different people at the hospice (in our shed!) and talk about their role in the local community. We have so many plans and ideas and I love working with my colleague Margot Uden, the Compassionate Communities Lead. We are both creative problem solvers which is important in a hospice where a lot of staff are medically trained and have a different skillset”
Talking about end of life issues is still uncomfortable for many of us. But Martin is mindful of this, and is optimistic that the work of his organisation, alongside that of other groups, can go some way to changing that.
“It will always be difficult to reduce the stigma of a hospice”, he said “However, Hastings and St Leonards are very community focused and there are different community groups all around so I think there is huge scope to come together and build community understanding around the hospice. I am open to ideas and change and can honestly say I love my job!”
• Find out more about the Compassionate Communities project by contacting Martin on 07566 789242 or by email at [email protected] if you or your community group would like to get involved.
Read more in the series:
Simone Gosling, Manager of Bear’s House Nursery
Irina Lazareva, the force behind Sunshine Cafe
Kate Rosie, owner of Teddy Tinker’s
Millie Rowland, CEO of Boathouse Arts and founder of ‘Millie’s Nightclub’
Father David Hill, Rector of St John’s Church, Pevensey Road
Mike and Sue Shaw of Shaws Hair Stylists
Liz Coleman, member of the Hastings and Rother Interfaith
Gemma Cooksley and Kate Thwaites, Bluebell Ridge RSPCA Cat Rehoming Centre
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