The day began with a frenetic game of rounders organised by Amy Walker, Chair of Hastings Rounders. In addition to the regular players, unsuspecting visitors were pressganged to join in the fun – which, to their great credit, most did with enthusiasm, drawing cheers from a bumper crowd.

The focus then moved inside the Stade. Anne-Marie Watson from Women’s Voice said the theme of this year’s events was “embracing equity” and the “fight for equality, support and recognition of those who are most vulnerable.”

Women’s Voice was set up in 2006 by a group of women to “offer support, solidarity, and opportunities to women in the local community”. To mark this year’s IWD, they organised creative workshops aimed at young people to “raise awareness and empower them to stand up against sexual abuse, coercive control and domestic violence.”

There were also talks from a team of inspirational women. Rossana Leal, the founder and CEO of the Refugee Buddy Project, Antonia Berelson of the Royal College of Nurses, Claudine Eccleston, creator of Playing the Race Card creative project, Steph Warren, owner of the Stella Dore gallery and Maggie Capps, who is part of the RMT cleaners protest, each spoke passionately on subjects as diverse as friendship, anti-racism and feminism. One thing common to all speeches was how, with the support and solidarity of local women in Hastings and St Leonards, so much is being achieved everyday by so many remarkable women working within the local community. 

The proceedings were brought to a close by local artist Carol Prior. She roused spirits with a musical celebration of women, but also a reminder to all present of the needs of local women who are in abusive, violent and coercive relationships.

Hundreds of environmental campaigners recently gathered in St Leonards for the unveiling of a mock Blue Plaque to highlight the continued dumping of raw sewage into the sea by Southern Water, and to protest the government’s lack of action in holding the company to account. The Dirty Water national campaign drew support from a myriad of local groups including Extinction Rebellion Hastings and St Leonards, Clean Water Action Group and MP Watch.

HASTINGS’ NEW BLUE PLAQUE

The unveiling of the plaque made from recycled materials was greeted by cheers from the crowd. It highlights Southern Water’s “criminal” record in dumping raw sewage into the sea in and around Hastings 234 times last year.

Becca Horn, the Clean Water Action Group organiser, said it was “unacceptable” for Southern Water to dump raw sewage into the sea on a scale and frequency which was only getting worse.

She highlighted statistics which showed there were 121 such spillages by Southern Water in 2021, and 234 the following year. In January 2023 alone, she said the number of spillages reported was already over 50 – and warned if this rate of dumping sewage into the sea continued, it would “destroy our reputation as a clean and friendly town for tourists and swimmers”. She warned: “We will not tolerate or accept this, enough is enough.”

SICK OF SEWAGE

The numbers of people falling ill after entering the water is understood to have increased in recent years. Amy Walker, Chair of Hastings Rounders, whom HIP readers will remember, rescued a dolphin trapped in a rocky gulley at Rock-A-Nore beach with members of her team just after Christmas; since her heroic efforts, she has been plagued by sickness and believes the levels of sewage in the water could be to blame.

Other rounders players were also sick in the summer after going into the sea together, with no other obvious explanation. She is keen to encourage people to see a doctor and to put their sickness on the record if it links to sewage dumps. “We need to build up a body of evidence and put pressure on water companies to make improvements,“ she said. “Nothing will ever change as long as it is cheaper for them to pay fines rather than do essential repair work.”

VOTING FOR THE DUMPERS

Edwina Hughes, who enjoys sea swimming off the beach in St Leonards with friends, is similarly angry at the lack of action to hold Southern Water to account. “[They are] pumping sewage and wastewater into the sea at a volume and frequency which makes it inhospitable at best and dangerous at worst for swimmers. It is bad news for everyone whether you swim or not. It has a knock-on effect on our economy and our environment. They need to be held accountable.”

Helena Dollimore, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate, attacked Sally-Ann Hart, the local Conservative MP, whom, she said, had actively voted against proposals in the Commons to reduce the dumping of raw sewage. In stark contrast, she said a future Labour Government would introduce mandatory monitoring of all sewage outlets and the imposition of automatic fines for discharges. The bosses of water companies would also be targeted to make them “financially, legally and, if necessary, criminally accountable” for their actions. She added that in the worst breaches, this could mean prison.

Councillor Julia Hilton of the Green Party drew loud cheers from the crowd when she re-affirmed that it was her party’s policy to renationalise Southern Water and the other water companies who, she said, continue to look after the interests of shareholders rather than ordinary people. “The market is failing, and we will fix it for everybody.”

What People Are Saying…

Local Green Party councillor Glenn Haffenden told HIP “the only reason we are seeing any kind of change is because the people of Hastings and St Leonards are holding strong and constantly putting the pressure on to stop these dumps happening.“

Local Extinction Rebellion members told us “The Dirty Water campaign is about raising awareness of the on-going pollution of our waterways and oceans. Despite the claims of good intentions, this isn’t getting any better. In fact, it’s getting worse, much worse. Our local MP has voted to allow this to continue and the government have cut the funding of the Environmental Agency meaning nobody is holding Southern Water to account. Southern Water has a long history of prioritizing paying dividends to their shareholders rather than investing in the infrastructure that will stop this from happening. And all the time that it is cheaper for them to pay the occasional fine than do the necessary work, this will continue. 

“If it is not our water being polluted, it is our air or our food. If it’s not the pandemic bringing hardship, it’s the war in Ukraine or the cost of living crisis. Everyone is out on strike for a reason; this whole system doesn’t work. And it’s this system that is creating the devastating effects of the climate catastrophe and the collapse of bio-diversity that we are now experiencing, When will this destruction of our environment stop? If the government aren’t willing to take the action necessary then we must get out onto the streets and peacefully demand that they let us decide how we change the system that is bringing about this destruction. That’s why I will be in London on 21st April with 100,000 people demanding for this to happen.”

Find more info here: extinctionrebellion.uk/the-big-one/

“We stopped to watch as the birds looked quite unusual, and then we saw a fin”, said Walker. “We all thought it was a shark to begin with,” said Warrior. “By the way it was thrashing, we knew it was stuck in a gulley.”

Gale said: “When we got closer, we could see it wasn’t a shark but a dolphin or maybe a porpoise.”

Tough Going

Walker and Warrior ran down the rocks and plunged in, while Gale stayed on land to take photos and run for help if necessary. The two women struggled for 20 minutes against the incoming tide to reposition the stuck creature, later identified as a common dolphin.

“It was pretty tough going because the sea was rough and we couldn’t get a sure footing on the seabed because of the rocks”, said Walker. “The tide was coming in, so we were getting knocked over and having to pick each other up, as well as trying not to stress the dolphin even more. I was telling her she would be ok. We were at the tail end because we weren’t sure if she would bite us – she was quite heavy.”

“Because the water was choppy, we couldn’t see the rocks beneath, so it took about five minutes of both of us manoeuvring the dolphin before I was able to turn her and finally release her”, said Warrior. “It was definitely a two- woman job – but then we are always a team at Hastings Rounders.”

Carrie Warrior hands on (right). Photo: Sarah Gale

Warrior later contacted British Divers Marine Life Rescue to report the incident. An officer told her: “It’s natural to think of putting them back in the water, however a healthy cetacean very rarely strands. There is usually an underlying cause. Hopefully it’s a happy ending and it’s gone back out. Thank you for letting us know, as our teams can now prepare if it strands again.”

“So we hope we did the right thing,” said Walker. “People have asked me what the dolphin’s tail felt like, and honestly the closest thing is the base of a rounders post! Seeing her swim off into the distance was a really beautiful moment. She swam in a big arc surfacing a couple of times and headed towards Bexhill.”

The Hastings Rounders group was established in 2022, playing the game through the summer in Alexandra Park. More recently they have been awarded a Sports England grant which has enabled them to continue indoors over the winter at Hastings Academy, and from this month at St Leonards Academy as well. They already have 35 players ranging in age from 19 to 70+ but are keen to find more.

The group can be accessed on facebook or via https://eequ.org/experience/2515 or at hastingsrounders@gmail.com