Archives for Community - Page 6
STRIVE HASTINGS Goes into Battle
After a challenging January for many local businesses, a new initiative has launched with the aim of bringing business owners together. STRIVE HASTINGS is the brainchild of Gemma Dearman, of…
Disabled Facilities Grants Improve Residents’ Lives
The council is continuing its Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) scheme to support residents in need of home adaptations. Between October and December 2024, 30 DFGs were approved for 42 adaptations,…
Our Town Has Plenty
CAF FEAN tells HIP about a new podcast where she & Patsy Solanki talk about what's going on in town Henry George Photography Patsy and I have been mates for…
WOH! Neurodivergent Women: Different Pathways
A regular space to bring ideas and reflections. We discuss and write together to create awareness & encourage positive change for women and girls. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and…
Families and New Parents in East Sussex to Receive Early Years Support
Families and children in Hastings, Rye and the villages will be able to access early years support, such as pregnancy support, parenting classes, and various other schemes and resources, to provide their…
Sunny Beaches to Cold Seas
ROD WEBB finds out how David Mears became one of Hastings’ oldest cold sea swimmers I met David Mears at his 90th birthday party held at the White Rock Hotel.…
Rosy Future for Warrior Square Gardens
CATHERINE MACK For anyone who walks regularly in the rose gardens in Warrior Square Gardens, they can’t help but smile at the fact that there are a few hardy blooms…
Desperately Trying to Keep Warm
KENT BARKER The government may have scrapped the Winter Fuel Allowance, but there are other schemes out there that can help with gas and electricity bills and they are desperately…
Community News in Brief
Women of Hastings! Continues Women of Hastings! writing group was set up by Glenys Jacques to create space for local women’s voices. Sadly, she she died in November last year…
Food Charity Founders’ MBE
The two founders of a St Leonards-based food charity have both been awarded MBEs in the New Year’s Honours list. Dom and Alexandria Warren were given the honour for services…
Future Growth at Ore Station
The Friends of Ore Station are thrilled to announce the next step in transforming unused derelict land near the station into a thriving community garden. Building on the success of…
Hastings Assembles in St Leonards
ROD WEBB The first town meeting of Hastings Assembles was held at the Stade in June this year, prompted by a generalised dissatisfaction with the lack of political choice in…
1066 Business Awards celebrate excellence in 2025
The highly anticipated 1066 Business Awards are back for 2025, promising to shine a spotlight on the exceptional businesses that make Hastings and Rother thrive. This prestigious event celebrates innovation,…
Saying Thank You with an Icy Dip
ROD WEBB We all appreciate stories of survival against the odds, and Cathy Cobley’s story is one of those. Ten years ago, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, one of…
Four Courts Connect Proms performance
On 27 November, seven young musicians from the Four Courts Connect project performed at the Music for Youth Proms at The Royal Albert Hall representing Hastings and East ; Rod…
New Venues for Surviving Christmas
MEGAN SKINNER Important news for all volunteers, donors, clients and others involved in the support that Surviving Christmas provides for the residents of Hastings and Rother at Christmas time. Having…
Thanks to Fred at the Shed
PATRICIA HARTSHORNE discovers The Repair Shop of Hastings & St Leonards I knew nothing about the Hastings & St Leonards Men’s Shed until, earlier this year, a friend suggested I…
Community: Alive and Well in St Leonards
FIONA MCGARRY On 7 December, members of the Progress Network packed out Concordia Hall for their fourth Big Celebration, this year entitled The Big Takeover. This is a hugely popular…
Age-Friendly Celebrations in Hastings
Hastings Voluntary Action (HVA) have been organising Age-Friendly events and festivals to support and enable older people to lead healthy and active lives. Jane CaleyThe HVA Diwali Celebration Back in…
The Power of Nature and Community
WE ARE A SEA, a weekend of joyful activities celebrating local heroes, has been captured on film and bottled for future viewing. Alice Denny Local activist, Beccy McCray, was inspired…
Healthy Conservation at Church Wood
ROD WEBB We’re all aware of the New Year rush to get fit after festive overindulgence - and how it is often doomed to failure. So why not start thinking…
The Return of the Giving Tree
Priory Meadow is bringing back their Charity Giving Tree as a centrepiece for the shopping centre this Christmas for the seventh year running. The idea is to encourage visitors to…
Free Training for Energy Champions
Local community energy cooperative Energise Sussex Coast are holding a free one-day interactive training at the White Rock Hotel in Hastings on Tuesday 17 December. The training is aimed at…
Award for Transformative Local Director
The director of local community energy co-operative Energise Sussex Coast, Kate Meakin, has won a national award recognising “one exceptional individual, in England, that has made an outstanding contribution to…
Digital Learning Skills Training at the White Rock
It was recently announced that the White Rock Theatre, operated by The Guildhall Trust, is to receive £25,000, awarded by East Sussex County Council from the Hastings Skills Capital Fund.…
Calling All Cat Lovers
MARIE ASHTON, Branch Manager of Bluebell Ridge RSPCA animal shelter, reminds our readers of the important work they do Bluebell Ridge Bluebell Ridge RSPCA animal shelter is holding an open…
UK Disability History Month
PENNY PEPPER As I write, I wonder how many of you know that, by the time you read this piece, it will be UK Disability History Month (UKDHM – 14…
Christopher Maxwell-Stewart Saved St Leonards
An abridged version of BERNARD MCGINLEY’s tribute of Christopher Maxwell-Stewart in Hastings Online Times The 1960s zeitgeist was for demolition. Old was boring. New was better. Neophiliacs were in charge. In St…
A Drop-In Service with a HEART
HEART’s Community Info Hub is slap bang in the middle of town in what used to be Hastings’ courthouse and now the Town Hall, still with its public gallery and,…
Think Lend Not Spend this November
November is National Buy Nothing Month and Umbrella Sussex is ready to help with practical alternatives to buying new, writes SHELLEY FELDMAN Umbrella Sussex is a community group whose volunteers…
Something Bizarre at St Andrews Mews
ROD WEBB It’s not often that my daughter tells me what I should visit, but she was insistent. “You must go and see ‘Bizarre BUT True!’. It’s so good, and…
Over 60s Dance Event Takes Hastings by Storm
I had heard there was an afternoon dance club being organised for older people at the Observer Building and made the typical assumption of something rather staid – even though…
Advertorial: Hastings Designer Maker Fair – Christmas Edition
On Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 November, the Observer Building is hosting a Designer Maker Fair curated by James ; Photo: Caitlin Lock James has worked within the retail and…
The Great Big Cultural Survey
Tina Morris is probably best known in Hastings as the director of Coastal Currents, the annual festival that she’s been running since 2017. But she’s been involved in the creative…
Sanctuary Comedy Special 2024
ROHAN JAYASEKERA The untold experiences of refugees who seek safety in England are many. The darkest, most hidden ones are the experiences of torture. Hundreds, maybe thousands of our newest…
A New Way of Learning Which is Right Up Your Street
ERICA SMITH Hastings Commons is currently running a programme of courses tailored to suit people who have never felt comfortable in formal learning situations. Geometric patchwork cushion workshop with tutor…
The Independent Rescue Boat
JO O’HARA introduces Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat (PLIRB) - which provides a similar service to the RNLI but without the same level of funding or support Photos: PLIRB PLIRB…
A Mighty Roar
On Thursday 10 October Hastings SHE Choir staged its first solo gig: Thunder, Lightning and Dirt, at the White Rock Theatre. FIONA MCGARRY went along to experience the power of…
WOH! Violence Against Women –A Men’s Issue
A regular space to bring ideas and reflections. We discuss and write together to create awareness & encourage positive change for women and girls. Monday 25 November is White Ribbon…
Community News and Events
Funds for Rural Rother Friends Altogether in Rother (FAiR) delivers services to communities in rural Rother and has announced that they have recently been awarded £19,900 by The National Lottery…