Archives for Community - Page 16
Hastings Cargo’s Electric Dream
By Ben Cornwell Electric vehicles have become increasingly prominent in recent years, with more people trading in their fuel-guzzling Land Rovers in return for a Tesla or other EV models.…
A Night at the Opera
By Ben Cornwell Sound Waves Community Choir have been preparing since January for their upcoming concert ‘A Night at the Opera,’ which will be taking place at St Mary in…
Tattoo Shop Spreads its Wings
By Oscar Burton Xi Much like their customers, tattoo shops come in all shapes, sizes, styles and temperaments. The stereotyped grungy basement tattoo shop – adorned with skull prints and…
Join Art in the Park for their Grand Opening!
By Ben Cornwell Alexandra Park is undoubtedly one of Hastings crowning jewels. Strolling through the park and admiring its natural beauty is such a peaceful and relaxing pastime, particularly now…
Alexandra Park improves safety
Hastings Borough Council has received £208,000 for community safety improvements in Alexandra Park following a bid with the Office of the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner to the Home Office. This…
We all Stand on Common Ground
By Nick Pelling and Helen Murphy Something weird and wonderful just happened in Gotham City. Gotham Alley, I mean. There was no Penguin, but there was plenty of Zap! And…
Iron in the Soul
The artistic director of this year’s A Town Explores a Book (ATEAB) festival, Gail Borrow, shares the insights of two of the key artists involved. The artist known simply as…
Facebook ‘censors’ Hastings Art
The Facebook page of the Hastings Independent and that of one of its writers have been taken down for reproducing a saucy postcard currently in a charity art exhibition in…
Keeping the Coast Clear
By Ben Cornwell With more than 10 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean from the world’s coastlines every year, plastic pollution has be-come one of the most pressing environmental…
Fresh Food in the Heart of St Leonards
By Ben Cornwell Entering a farmers’ market can be an almost overwhelming feeling. Your eyes are drawn to the explosion of colours at the fruit and veg stall whilst the…
Searching For Kushti: 50 Years of The Diddakoi
A Town Explores A Book 2022 celebrates 50 years since Rumer Godden’s young adult novel The Diddakoi told the story of a mixed race child of Romany descent and her…
Getting Back to Normality During Probation
By Mozz Osborne For many ex-offenders, their punishment doesn’t end after completion of their sentence. Trying to get a life back on track can be a daunting experience, full of…
Fundraising Walk and Cycle for Al-Mawasi
Hastings Friends of Al-Mawasi are holding a fundraising walk and cycle on Saturday 26 March ending witha rally at 2pm at the Stade in Hastings Old Town. Hastings Friends…
A Walk in the Park
By Ben Cornwell A new walking group to help men open up about their mental health has come to Hastings. MenWalkTalk is a mental health charity that aims to bring…
Hard times in local government
By Kay Green I think our government has been in a deplorably bad condition for some years. I suspect the bad faith and bad behaviour we’ve seen from national politicians…
Where’s Wally Weekender is back
Show off your stripes this spring by signing up for the National Literacy Trust’s iconic Where’s Wally? funrun event. On the weekend of 19 March 2022, hundreds of runners, families…
Understanding Dementia
The Hastings and St Leonards Dementia Action Alliance (HSLDAA) is a small charity that is seeking to make Hastings and St Leonards more dementia friendly through education, conversation and liaison.…
New Free Mini Zine to Inspire!
The 2022 book choice for St Leonards on Sea’s annual spring festival, #ATownExploresABook, is Rumer Godden’s The Diddakoi on its fiftieth anniversary of publication. The festival’s mentee team, an inspirational…
Collect your Cereal Packets: March is for Model Making!
By Erica Smith The great joy in 1970s households was the cereal packet. Vouchers and gifts could be found inside them, and when you had finished munching their edible contents,…
Running for 150 Years
By Ben Cornwell Established in 1872, Hastings’ oldest estate agents, John Bray, are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year. As part of their celebrations, the family-run business plans to host…
And the winner is …
By Rod Webb Brenda Hall is a sprightly 90-year-old living in a self-contained granny flat in St Leonards. She can often be seen out shopping or walking her dog, Bobby…
Affordable housing: council cabinet sets First Homes criteria
Under a government scheme introduced last year, First Homes, at least 25% of all future new-built ‘affordable’ housing units are set to be offered at discounted prices to local first-time…
Age-Friendly Coffee Mornings are Back
After a short Covid Break, Hastings Voluntary Action (HVA), working with Clr Ruby Cox, Older Person’s Champion for Hastings Borough Council, are once again running their ‘discussion over coffee’ mornings.…
Celebrate Mardi Gras in French
By SueTyon Hastings Anglo-French Club is a popular and long-established local group that aims to promote the French language, French culture and further Anglo-French friendship, all in a light-hearted and…
Helping Older People Suffering Domestic Abuse
Around one million people over the age of 65 are victims of abuse each year in the UK. The Hourglass mission is to end the harm, abuse and exploitation of…
Being a Man
By Chris Richards Hastings Men’s Network is a project for men to connect, share and learn in the Hastings area, looking at what mature masculinity means in these current times.…
Not Just an Award-Winning Shop
Articles in the national press about Hastings always cause a stir on social media, and when three local stores got into the Times List of 50 Best Independent Shops in…
Pass it on
The Mummery Co-op Funeralcare in Bexhill-on-Sea has announced the return of their much-anticipated school uniform swap initiative: Pass It On. The scheme, started by staff at the funeral home in…
Meet HIP over a coffee
The Community Editor of HIP, Rod Webb, will be sitting in Bonjour having a coffee on Thursday 17 February ready for a chat between 10am and 12 noon. If you’d…
Hastings Relaunches People’s Assembly
The Hastings People’s Assembly is relaunching on 14 March, recognising the many challenges facing our community, and acknowledging the strengths, creativity and determination of the town’s numerous movements and campaigns…
Sea Swimming
In the last issue we wrote about Swimming on Christmas Day (Christmas Rituals Issue 192). In this issue, EMMA CLAUGHTON writes about what sea swimming means to her. As a…
Inspiration and Hard Work Pays Off
On a sunny Saturday morning in mid-January the crowds gathered for the opening of the second communal composting site at St Leonards Warrior Square station. The crowd wasn’t large, but…
Green Lights for Brownfield Housing
Total of 361 homes get planning approval at Ashdown and Darwell Close A meeting of Hastings Borough Council’s planning committee last week resolved to grant planning permission for the plans…
Sharing is Caring
By Kathryn Sutter Many readers will be familiar with the Hastings Give and Takery. What started off as a small Facebook group (Swap Cycle Hastings), has now turned into a…
Local Offer Relaunched
A Local Offer is a description of the provision made available by local authorities for children and young people from 0-25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Every Local…
Unleashing Your Fundraising Creativity
Go mad and Support St Michael’s Hospice by celebrating Yellow Week, Monday 21 – Sunday 27 February 2022. With lots of resources and support available – including collection pots or…
Hastings Commons Diary
A semi-regular round-up of everything going on in the Hastings Commons by ANDREW MYERS, Learning Co-ordinator at Leisure & Learning, the charity established to activate and animate spaces in the…
Things to Do in Hastings in the Rain
I’ve always been fascinated by the Hastings community and the links that bind so many people together down here. Via one of those links I received “a song of grey…
Dancing into 2022
On Friday 29 October 2021, Francesca Grando, Principal of Hastings School of Contemporary Dance (HSCD), was invited to attend the Dance School of the Year Awards after being shortlisted for…
Bexhill Comes Alive with Light
A brand new free light art festival comes to Bexhill on Saturday 29 January Bexhill After Dark, produced by local events company, 18 Hours, will feature 11 light-art installations around…