Archives for Community - Page 12
Alexandra Park Greenhouse Group gets new patron
LYNDA FOY Fergus Garrett, head gardener and chief executive at Great Dixter Charitable Trust in Northiam, has supported the group since 2016 when he gave a talk to boost funds…
In the Community
Local 106 -year-old fundraiser receives Points of Light award. Joan Willett raised more than £60,000 for British Heart Foundation research in the lead up to her 104 birthday, and as…
Community Healthcare
MERLIN BETTS considers the advent of social prescribing (part one) Healthcare can be pretty esoteric for the average patient or service user. Even in the age of the internet, hospitality…
A Town Explores a Book 2023
JUDE MONTAGUE This year the St Leonards-on-Sea readers’ festival focussed on Mary Seacole’s autobiography Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands. Mary came from Jamaica, the daughter of a…
Take Action Man!
MIKE PATTENDEN There’s something primal about walking through a forest or being sat around a roaring fire in the darkness, which may go some way to explaining why they provide…
In the Community
Picturing Our Streets On 22 March, a major new outdoor exhibition called Picturing High Streets opened, telling the stories behind our shopfronts. It celebrates our high street heroes, captures familiar…
Trans Pride Hastings
On the 31 March Hastings joined towns across the world in marking 2023’s Trans Day of Visibility, an opportunity to celebrate the trans community internationally. For the first time the…
Hastings Cat Chat By Anita Kelsey
It’s that time again folks whereby we find ourselves scratching our heads over our feline companions. We all get sucked into the black hole of catty quandaries so, keep your…
Dog Tales
Teddy Boy The nice curator of Hastings Cat Chat kindly ran a letter from me in the last edition of HIP despite my moaning about her feeble feline ; Well,…
What’s Spoiling Our Seas?
ROBERT RALPH Three speakers explain the challenges our coastline faces and explore some of the solutions. The Common Room (Opposite ESK) in Cambridge Road – TN34 1DJ. 15 April, 1600…
The Big One
ROD WEBB After a brief period of protesting with XR, I began to feel my age and have since restricted my activism to more low-key community engagement issues, like working…
Community Housing Through Collective Effort
GARETH STEVENS and MERLIN BETTS Recently I met with Sarah Gomes Harris, a co-founder of the Hastings Rental Health (HRH) campaign, set up by a group of renters “fed up…
Forget Hastings, Go West!
ALEXIA MASARDO The West St Leonards Forum invites you to attend an exhibition about this interesting and mostly overlooked part of our seaside community. Locals have been contributing photographs, pictures,…
Battle Foodbank Wins Award
Battle Foodbank (part of Churches Together in Bexhill Foodbank) received a Community Award for outstanding service to the town of Battle at the Battle Parish Assembly. The Battle foodbank, hosted…
Community Round-up
Young People’s Group at the Common Room A new meetup group for those in their 20s and 30s will be starting on the 5 April at the Common Room on…
Protesters Flush Wasteful Management
ROBERT RALPH On Tuesday 14 March, a group of residents from Hastings and St Leonards Extinction Rebellion and The Clean Water Action Group displayed their disgust at Southern Water’s continued…
Activities with Groundwork South
Groundwork South offer volunteering opportunities for conservation and gardening in local green spaces; environmental and nature-based creative workshops and activities; wellbeing and employability support; and one-to-one meetings to explore your…
Environmental News: Our Town is an Orchard
From equinox to equinox, local food grower’s network Town Grown has been encouraging people to plant fruit trees across Hastings and St Leonards. The organisation’s launch survey revealed that three…
Greenway Route Progress
TONY COLLINS,Green councillor for Central St Leonards The Hastings Greenway Trust’s Ian Sier has given an upbeat assessment of the chances of the Ore Valley segment of the route going…
Competition for Young Writers
The #ATownExploresABook23 festival creative writing competition for 5-14 year olds is inspired by the Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, this year’s book choice. Young writers are invited…
The Great Post Office Scandal in Hastings
ROSIE BROCKLEHURST Journalist Nick Wallis, author of The Great Post Office Scandal, is coming to Hastings on Wednesday 10 May. I invited Nick to give a talk about this huge…
Hastings Cat Chat by ANITA KELSEY
It’s surprising how many quirky cat things you can find in Hastings. Since starting The Cat Chat I’ve been noticing loads, like peculiar feline roof ornaments. If you know of…
Rolling Thunder
GARETH STEVENS explores the power and ritual of community drumming and the historical tradition of taking it to the streets. Organising an outdoor carnival parade on a Sunday in mid-February…
Jamming in the Summer Sun
VICTORIA KINGHAM interviews the indefatigable Max Baillie, violinist, viola player, virtuoso, musical powerhouse, Founder of St Leonards Concerts and leader of The Fritz Brothers and other ensembles, in the first…
People of Hastings and St Leonards: Debbie Goodsell
This week KATHRYN SUTTER met with Debbie Goodsell, an independent Funeral Celebrant serving the community of Hastings and St Leonards. Debbie Goodsel Debbie is Sedlescombe born and bred; she had…
Hear Me Roar
Women’s Voice presents Hear Me Roar, a festival for International Women’s Day. She Choir Hastings march We are excited to announce our celebration for International Women’s Day 2023, taking place…
A Consultation for All the Community
On 25th March, community-led regeneration organisation Hastings Commons will host an open consultation alongside architects IF_DO and Purcell, regarding the future of two wonderful buildings in the White Rock area.…
Allsorts Expands to Hastings
Sussex-based LGBT+ youth charity, Allsorts Youth Project, has expanded its youth and family services to Hastings. Established in 1999, the charity has supported children and young people in a broadening…
An entanglement of roots
Gareth Stevens attends the launch of an exciting new publication produced exclusively by a group of young migrants in St Leonards. What do we actually mean by the word local?…
Hastings Cat Chat by Anita Kelsey
Hi, fellow cat lovers. Thank you all for your letters and lovely photos. Before we get stuck into some more catty conundrums, I’d like to give a huge congratulations to…
Hastings Cat Chat #2
by ANITA KELSEYWelcome fellow cat lovers. Thanks for all of your letters so far. Please keep them coming plus any high res photos of your moggies to: Mog of the…
Between a Bomb, Some Rock, and a Hard Place
by MERLIN BETTS St Leonards Church hasn’t had the easiest history. From the destruction of its namesake in medieval times, it took hundreds of years to be built on its…
In the community
Another Candle Goes Out by SEAN JORDAN, local LGBT+ ; Photo: Sean Jordan On the evening of Wednesday 15 February, Hastings residents gathered outside Goat Ledge for a vigil to…
People of Hastings and St Leonards
Lara Alvarez and Alvaro Lois This week Kathryn Sutter met Lara and Al, owners of Spanish-on-Sea, an accessible and friendly Spanish language school in Hastings Town Centre. Lara and Al…
Hastings Youngsters Swim to Support Ukrainians in Bomb Shelters
Three boys from Hastings are currently in final preparations for a 12-hour non-stop swimming challenge that they hope will make a real difference to children impacted by the war in…
People of Hastings and St Leonards: Penny Pepper
This week KATHRYN SUTTER met Penny Pepper, author, poet, and disability activist who has called St Leonards home for the past five years. Penny Pepper. Credit: JJ Waller. Like many…
Umbrella Sussex Launches Functional Print Service
Umbrella Sussex is a Community Sharing collective based in the Common Room on Cambridge Road. They have just launched a ‘Functional Print Service’ using their small printer to print, scan…
Hastings Museum & Art Gallery launches Queer History Trail
To celebrate LGBTQIA+ History Month, the Hastings Queer History Collective are launching a self-guided queer map and walking trail of LGBTQIA+ objects in Hastings Museum and Art Gallery’s collection. The…
Ordinary People, Extra-Ordinary Day
BY PAUL MCLAUGHLIN On Saturday 28 January, the people of Hastings gathered for the annual service to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. The event was part of the international commemoration to…
Marine Conservation Zone Consultation Workshops
Have your say! Come along to the Beachy Head East Marine Conservation Zone community workshops. Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) are about to start their public consultation process…