Archives for Community - Page 6
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…
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 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…
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…
New Chapter for Vital Local Food Charity
The UK throws away around million tonnes of food waste a year – yet million people in the UK are in food ; Michael Donald Rima Sams, Founder and Director of…
Talking Big
ROD WEBB looks at the recently released Big Conversation report on enlisting community engagement in town regeneration Under the former government, Hastings was one of 75 towns selected to receive…
Ore Library: Open & Thriving
FIONA MCGARRY visits Ore Library to find out how it’s going three years after reopening When I arrived on Tuesday morning, the Story Time session for pre-school children was in…
Canoe Club Clean Up
In a collaborative effort to combat plastic pollution, 12 members of the Hastings & District Canoe Club participated in a cleanup operation on the River Rother on Sunday 21 September.…
No Place for Racial Divisionin Hastings
ROD WEBB The Hastings Is No Place for Hate event hosted by the Observer Building earlier this month was the second in a series of meetings to tackle issues connected…
Where Ends Find New Beginnings
GABRIEL WISHART takes you into the world of ‘Nomad’ where touch, craftsmanship, and imagination come together Nomad Surplus Luxury Textiles is not merely a store; it’s a space where every…
War Minus the Shooting?
GILL GOLDENBERG takes issue with George Orwell’s view that football is ‘war minus the shooting’ and suggests that domestic football has positive things to offer George Orwell’s famous assertion about…