Archives for Community
Welcome to the House of Fun
RACHEL ATTFIELD Walking along my road in Hastings recently, I found myself delighting in the abundance of plants growing through the cracks in the pavement. Dandelions, grasses, tiny flowers, plants…
Read to the Beat
TOBY BULA-EDGE The ever-popular Summer Reading Challenge returns this month for children aged four to eleven. This year the theme is Read to the Beat and explores the connection between…
Umbrella Sussex Needs Your Help!
TOBY BULA-EDGE A new Community Eco Hub is the next aim of Umbrella Sussex – the group behind the Library of Things, Make and Mend, and Save the Convent Campaign.…
Gamechanging Futures
TOBY BULA-EDGE As we sweat our way through the third heatwave of the year, it’s impossible to ignore that the climate is changing. That’s why Hastings United FC and Bexhill…
Counselling Plus Community Relocates to St Leonards
TOBY BULA-EDGE Local mental health charity Counselling Plus Community (CPC) will be relocating to the St Nicholas Centre from 1 September. The collaborative move was announced by long running charity…
Automotive Stars Shine at ESC Awards
East Sussex College’s Automotive Training Centre celebrated student achievement, industry partnership and automotive excellence at its annual awards ceremony in Hastings. The event brought together students, staff, governors, employers, families…
Oh Big Blue in Concert
JOHN ENEFER A remarkable night is in store at the Stade Hall on 5 July which will showcase both the breadth of musical talent in Hastings as well as the…
Bringing Generations Together
Generational conflict is an eternal battle where peace can seem ever distant. But that hasn’t stopped people trying to bring an end to it. The Intergenerational Grants Programme is a…
Big Names and Bright Lights
TOBY BULA-EDGE Two local filmmakers were named ‘Filmmaking Champions’ at the Into Film Awards 2026 on 16 June. The awards, which celebrate young filmmaking talent and enrichment, took place at…
A Sauna on the Pier
FRANCESCA SULLIVAN After the Samphire Sauna’s annual summer break for overhaul, the UK’s only sauna on a pier will be back on 5 July, bigger and better! Photos: Francesca Sullivan…
Funereal Fun &Fundraising Run
A funeral arranger and director at a well-known St Leonard’s funeral home will be raising eyebrows as well as money at this year’s Out Of The Blue Battle event at Ashburnham Place…
Keeping our Beaches Safe this Summer
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the RNLI lifeguard service, which officially launched in 2001. What began as a trial on just 26 beaches in south-west England has since…
A Summerof Gardens
The open gardens season is now underway across Hastings and Rother, offering the public a rare chance to step inside inspiring private gardens. MALCOLM GLOVEREdible Open Gardens: The Knowle ECLECTIC…
Woodland Canopy Walks at theWealden Festival
As part of the Wealden Festival taking place over midsummer weekend, two afternoon canopy walks will unfold on Saturday 20 June 2026. Weaving through ancient woodland near the main festival…
Millie’s Turns Twenty
AIMEE WAREHAM On 5 June, the White Rock’s Studio 27 opened its doors for the 20th anniversary of Millie’s Nightclub, a space for adults with disabilities and neurodiversity to come together…
A Band of Brothers Transform Homeless Shelter
JOEL CHESHIRE On 16 May, members of A Band of Brothers Hastings came together for a remarkable Community Day at Warming Up The Homeless on Priory Road, where they rolled…
Film, Nature and Community in Alexandra Park
Ask the Trees is a new outdoor experience by Rebecca E. Marshall of Dear Future Films that invites visitors to look at the trees in Alexandra Park in a new…
Men Behaving Wisely
ROD WEBB Anyone involved in Hastings’ voluntary sector will know how well served the town is. Local research suggests that regular volunteering is far more common here than in much…
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…
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…
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…
A Shed of Our Own
MEL STEEL The Hastings & St Leonards Men’s Shed is at last the proud owner of the building that has been their precarious and drafty home for the past ten years –…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Become Part of the HIP Community!
If you read our special 300th supplement, you’ll know just how much work goes into producing the paper, and that it is (almost) all done by volunteers. But there’s no…
Bonkers Banter
Glass specialist Andy McConnell from BBC TV’s Antiques Roadshow will be supporting local charity The Sara Lee Trust this May with an evening of lively stories, laughter and audience chat.…
Mayday! Mayday!
Every day, RNLI crews across the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands respond to Mayday calls – the most urgent calls for help on our coasts. But this May, they…
Pier to Pier Challenge for Unpaid Carers
A unique Pier to Pier fundraising challenge took place along the Sussex coast last weekend to shine a light on the lived realities of unpaid carers – led by someone…
Free Help withRising Water Bills
With water bills rising yet again from 1 April, local community benefit society Energise Sussex Coast (ESC) is urging anyone in East Sussex who is struggling with their water bills…
Pride in Place Goes Public
Following the approval by the Government of the Hastings Neighbourhood Board 10-year Regeneration Plan in March 2026, a public event to discuss how and where the money will be invested…
Young people on the brink as funding stalls
Hastings charity Eggtooth has supported over 900 young people experiencing mental health challenges in the last two years. Now it says it can’t take on any new clients because the…
A Secret Garden
DON LINKE One of the delights of living in St Leonards and Hastings is discovering secret spaces often hidden away in plain sight, undiscovered gems that we can stumble across even after…
Violet, 88, is thriving not just surviving
An 88-year-old Bexhill resident who three years ago was given only months to live is now attending weekly yoga sessions at her care home, actively participating in class and spending…