Rob Webb

Local residents and traders gathered at the Royal Victoria Hotel on Thursday, 1st March drawn by the slogan ‘St Leonards needs you’. The meeting’s aim was to revitalise the St Leonards Town Team association, building on its achievements and tapping into the current skills and energy of the community.

The Town Team has its roots in the 2011 Mary Portas review into reviving town centres. Although St Leonards didn’t succeed in becoming one of the twelve pilot schemes, it was chosen as a Town Team Partner with an allocation of £10,000 to get things started.

Charles Stewart, a local shopkeeper and the current chairman of Town Team, explained the need for more support to keep the Team going as an effective organisation: “This time, we want to be more inclusive to encourage community engagement,” adding that they were particularly keen to serve the interests of the whole community and “not just the narrow interests of a few individuals that sometimes dominate such organisations.”

Anne Tucker, one of the five committee members, described how the Town Team had already contributed to delivering several important projects, including street signage, the Christmas lights and a regular street market. But she said the impetus behind the Town Team had been dwindling and was in danger of running out of steam. “This meeting is to gauge interest,” she clarified, “and encourage volunteers to sign up to discuss the way forward.”

Trevor Webb, the Labour councillor for Central St Leonards, gave some history of community organisation in St Leonards and surprised the meeting by revealing that £8,000 was still available for suitable community projects organized through Town Team.

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A diverse audience with a surprising number of newcomers to the area reacted with enthusiasm to the idea of promoting St Leonards as a vibrant community, but had different views on how to go about it.

The meeting then heard from various people already involved in community projects. Theresa Gasson, the Council’s Economic Development Officer, explained her role in liaising with community initiatives. Gail Borrow attended, representing Explore the Arch: the local experimental theatre responsible for the project “A Town Explores A Book”, whose subject this year will be Great Expectations. Chris Beveridge gave a presentation about TownCityCards, his initiative to encourage local spending. And finally, Virginia Villela talked about how Sussex Concepts has grown from running the local market for Town Team over the last two years.

There was a great turn-out for such a bitterly cold night. Let’s see how its energy transfers into action for the benefit of St Leonards.

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https://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/community.jpghttps://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/community.jpgHIPCommunityRoyal Victoria Hotel,Town TeamRob Webb Local residents and traders gathered at the Royal Victoria Hotel on Thursday, 1st March drawn by the slogan ‘St Leonards needs you’. The meeting’s aim was to revitalise the St Leonards Town Team association, building on its achievements and tapping into the current skills and energy of the...The Hastings & St Leonards non-profit community newspaper