Author Archives: HIP - Page 6
We Won’t Be Silenced
JOHN ENFER An award-winning journalist and film-maker will visit Hastings in June for the screening of a film which documents the extraordinary efforts of ordinary people to confront companies in…
Education Update
Local secondary school teacher ARNOLD THOMAS begins an occasional column on Education in and around Hastings, bearing in mind Nelson Mandela’s view that “Education is the most powerful weapon you…
The Forest Beneath the Waves
CHRIS WILLIAMS Most people in Hastings know the sea from the shoreline. Surfers know it from the waves. Divers know it from below. But very few people realise that just…
“Being a rock musician in 2026 is hard, but places like Hastings make it worthwhile”
Ahead of her show at The Carlisle on Friday 5 June, award-winning guitarist, singer and songwriter Chantel McGregor spoke to JOSHUA GEER about music, touring, grief, guitar playing, and why…
A Model for a New Youth Music Community
Badger is a not-for-profit music community based at The Source Park in Hastings. It mentors and funds content creators, helping to curate affordable nightlife for music lovers and develop long-term…
Bereavement First Aid and Good Grief Marketplace
When people think about grief, they don’t usually picture a puppet show, dancing or an outdoor performance by the sea. But that’s what the Good Grief Marketplace is creating in…
Community Events and Activities
Record-breaking May Day RNLI Fundraiser At the heart of Hastings’ Jack in the Green festivities, the RNLI Hastings May Day Bank Holiday fundraiser was one of the station’s most successful recent events.…
Major Government Grant for Homeless Veterans
A £500,000 award from the Office of Veterans Affairs, via the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s Capital Grant programme, is set to help the East Sussex Veterans Hub realise a…
Emmaus Grant to Provide Counselling Support
Homelessness charity Emmaus Hastings & Rother has been awarded £19,200 from the National Lottery Awards for All England programme to support the delivery of one-to-one counselling for residents over the…
Remembering Bill Wicking
Bill Wicking was a Hastings legend who was involved in numerous Old Town events over many years – even in his 90s. In October 2021, he received the Order of…
Measuring A Unit of One Year
HELEN MURPHY AND NICK PELLING For one precise year, a young artist, Bee Nicholls, initiated, set-up and ran the ‘Unit 2’ Art Space at the sea-end of London Road. It…
Death to Doom Scrolling
As the government considers outlawing algorithms which addict people to social media, and schools increasingly ban mobile phones, Hastings teacher CHRIS WATKINS explains why he has taken his own self-denying…
Time Travellers
DAVE MILTON Tawfik Naas, whose Manifestations For An Eternal Spring occupies the main gallery at Flatland, is described as a researcher rather than an artist. Neat arrangements of enigmatic objects…
Andrew Kötting at the Electric Palace
This weekend, Electric Palace present an Andrew Kötting weekend, a celebration of films by the Hastings-based, internationally recognised filmmaker and artist. Andrew shares a studio with his daughter Eden on…
Departure Lounge: A Double Elle Theatre Production
Writer/performers Lucy Pappas and Lisa Harmer have both worked professionally with the bereaved and experienced their own personal grief, inspiring them to write this one-act drama. They are delighted to…
NEWS IN BRIEF
New David Lloyd Centre for Bexhill? Proposals for a new David Lloyd leisure and fitness centre at the Bexhill Enterprise Park in Mount View Street have been set out in…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Hastings Pier Madness Dear HIP Why can’t our local council step in and save Hastings Pier? It seems unwise that this important community asset was sold to Sheikh Gulzar…
Comedy Festival
Hastings Comedy Festival returns on 1 June for its 11th year. The week-long celebration of live comedy kicks off at The Printworks and The St Leonard, with shows from Lara Ricote, Tez…
Town Beaches Win Awards
Pelham beach off Hastings and Marina beach off St Leonards have both won national awards presented by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy. Hastings Borough Council Both beaches have been given a Seaside…
Hot Tap Flows Creatively On
There are now more details on Dean Stalham’s progress from the Hot Tap Theatre to his new venture, Pen to Paper Productions. This new project connects creative talent with real…
PreviewingThe Situation
VICTORIA KINGHAM “Nuance,” muses Steve Furst, “is not a great friend of political debate any more.” We’re talking about his new one-man play Fagin: Hero or Villain? written, acted and…
Get it Together & Dance
For the end of May Bank holiday, the world of dance music is showcased and brought across the town by Let’s Get It Together Festival, featuring 30 DJs playing across…
70 Years of the Fishermen’s Museum
STEVE PEAK, local historian and Fishermen’s Museum trustee celebrates its 70th birthday One of the leading tourist attractions in Hastings is celebrating its 70th birthday this month. The Fishermen’s Museum…
Open Doors: Fine Music for Free
VICTORIA KINGHAM Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, under the redoubtable leadership of Marcio Da Silva, have deservedly secured funds to enable them to perform no less than seven free concerts…
Adventures in Pop
JUDE MONTAGUE Adventures in Pop has been running original creative rock and pop nights at the Jenny Lind for over a year. The scene has built up, and the First…
Three Key Takeaways from the Recent Local Elections
James Prentice analyses the results for Hastings Independent Press The local election held within the Hastings borough produced significant shifts. Reform emerged as a competitive party for the first time,…
Renters’ Rights Act Comes into Force
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN A landmark new law strengthening renters' rights, which promises to transform the lives of tenants living in the 12,500 private rental homes across Hastings and St Leonards came…
World T’ai Chiand Qigong Day
Local T’ai Chi students and practitioners came together in Gensing Gardens on 25 April to perform the Long Yang Form and celebrate the transformative power of T’ai-Chi Ch’uan on World…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter More Palestine Protest Arrests Dear HIP, I fully support the views and actions expressed by C and by H in HIP 300. What Keir Starmer and two Home Secretaries…
Arts on Prescription at the Palace
MEL STEEL Hastings artist Tara Reddy, founder of charity Arts on Prescription and community venture Arts in the Park, has been invited to a select garden party at Buckingham Palace…
Extraordinary Tales to Make you ‘Paws’ for Thought
JOSHUA GEER The Little Book of Extraordinary Cats by Anita Kelsey will remind readers of the incredible things our feline friends are capable of. The book does this by exploring…
Hastings Castle Relaunches with ‘Creatures of the Castle’ Weekend
Hastings Castle re-opens this month with an intriguing-sounding Creatures of the Castle weekend. On the evening of 8 May, all are invited to a sunset launch party to take in…
Celebrating English as a Shared Language
On 23 April, East Sussex College in Hastings hosted a special event marking both International English Day and St George’s Day, bringing together participants from diverse backgrounds. AUGB, Hastings & Rother The event…
Beating the Boundary
A quaint and ancient Hastings tradition will be invoked on Saturday 9 May as local people resplendent in silly hats Beat the Bounds of St Mary Magdalene’s Civil Parish. Organised…
Sweet Georgia
Last year we were privileged to see the eminent Rustavi choir from Georgia, who filled the Henry Ward Hall with their powerful voices and love of song. Now it’s the…
Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘26
Apparently, Hunter S. Thompson is not dead. He faked his own death and is now living in London. He has previously visited Hastings, where events occurred that were considered significant.…
Utopian Dreams
HARRY HAWKINS It’s a Tuesday evening, and someone can’t quite get the Zoom camera working.”I like it when you’re visible!” says one. “I like it when you’re risible,” replies another.…
Top Girls: Coercion, Conflict, Desperation
ELIZABETH ALLEN Top Girls is a play of fast and furious talk. The characters do not merely argue and contradict, they talk over each other, each pushing her own narrative,…
Jess Steele Steps Down as CEO of Hastings Commons
Jess Steele has resigned from her role as Chief Executive of Hastings Commons, the community-led project behind the revival of several derelict buildings across the town. She had been CEO…
Pocket Park Reopens
Local volunteers have successfully reopened the Better Braybrooke Pocket Park on Hughenden Road more than two years after it closed. The restoration project, led by Josh Matthews the Chair of…