Hastings Old Town is about to become home to an exciting new community centre. ‘The Nest’ is to open the doors of the Old Town Hall building on Friday 1st October and will be celebrating that occasion with a three-day event, neatly entitled ‘Nestival.’

The Nest is to be a community hub providing the town with its first ever alcohol-free bar and café downstairs with a therapy centre upstairs. What makes this centre unique is that it seeks to offer a safe space along with training and a wide range of therapies for young people who are experiencing difficulties in life. 

The training will include front-of-house skills and ‘high end’ Barista work. The idea is to help unemployed young people develop specific skills and some vital self-confidence. This can then enable youngsters back into paid work.

Inside the Nest 

Expert therapists will offer art therapy, music therapy, group therapy and even one-to-one treatment. The therapeutic space upstairs is intended to give people a chance to explore and come to terms with that huge range of issues which is often clumsily bracketed together under the heading ‘mental health.’ The chance to explore complex concerns in a safe, empathetic and supportive environment will be a great step forward in Hastings’ provision of social support.

There will also be a performative art space aimed at giving bands, poets, podcasters and even film lovers a creative arena. The Nestival event is expected to be very varied –the Friday opening will be free but ticketed, to make sure numbers are not excessive. Saturday evening will be a paid ticketed music event in which the exciting neo-punkish band Kid Kapachi will star alongside Hotwax. The tickets will be available on Eventbrite. Sunday will be more of a chance to chill down, with the sound system and exotic cocktails of The Sober Sommelier.

The Nest has been organised by the Eggtooth Project which was awarded National Lottery community funding for the cause back in 2020. One of the organisers of Nestival, Lilly Cooper, commented that everyone involved is “really passionate about working with all other concerned groups.” The idea behind such co-operation is that places like The Nest can be the focus of a “sort of Super-Group centre.” Space will be open for use by such other groups as The Refugee Buddy Project, The Black Butterfly group and the Brighton-based youth workers known as Allsorts. The latter work closely with the LGBTQ+ community. Lilly is clear that co-operation is the key: “we don’t want to do it by ourselves. We are all stronger together.” 

There is a certainly a growing buzz around this project. And it is surely about time that there was a sense of new possibilities opening up for the young people of Hastings. 

Believing that the Beautiful Game transcends all social barriers, Hastings social enterprise Eggtooth is combining with the United club to promote a new project in women’s football. The title they have given it is SheGoals – a brand name presumably designed to appeal to intoxicated Brighton supporters (mouth it to yourself). The aim is to provide free footballing sessions at The Firs MUGA (immediately above Pilot Field on Elphinstone Road) on a weekly basis for women and girls over the age of 16, but especially for those who may have mental health difficulties, including anxiety regarding new experiences.

First SheGoals session at The Firs
PICTURE: Laura Clarke

The project arises from the work of a counsellor at High Glades GP Surgery in Hollington, Rachel Lowden, who found she had a number of female clients with an interest in football and nowhere to play. She discussed with Eggtooth the potential health benefits, both mental and physical, of promoting a team sport where women could meet other like-minded women, get fitter, and become part of a social and supportive group. Co-director and co-founder of Eggtooth Sally Greig has connections with Hastings United – not least as mother of current first team squad player Harvey Greig, who has trained with the United academy since the age of 13 – and shares the belief in football as a force for good.

“The majority of the young women that Eggtooth has supported, stopped doing any sport in secondary school due to many issues – body image, peer pressure, lack of motivation, and poor teaching and coaching”, Sally says. “We hope SheGoals will appeal to those women who would have loved to have played football more but didn’t see any opportunities for them to do so.”

Real Change

She is very keen that the women who enrol make it a regular weekly event that will be integral to different aspects of their lives. “Stickability and persistence can elicit real change. The women will be outdoors, in all weathers, and will see a difference in their fitness levels. It will also be hugely fun, safe and led by coaches that are in tune with the project.” 

PICTURE: Laura Clarke

SheGoals was first mooted with Hastings United CEO and chairman Billy Wood in February this year, and chimed in with his quite separate initiative in forming a competitive women’s team to play county league fixtures from August.

“There was no hesitation in partnering with Eggtooth on SheGoals”, he says. “Women’s football is a growing area of the sport that deserves attention and respect. We believe the town is showing that in its numbers by supporting the exciting Hastings United Women’s team, SheGoals adds another amazing dimension.” 

Consequences of Covid     

The Covid-19 lockdown imposed in March necessarily delayed the start of SheGoals sessions, and it was not until last Friday that around 15 girls and women, some of whom have barely kicked a football before, met up at The Firs for a first run-out. 

Hastings United qualified coach Glyn White was there to greet them along with Sally Greig and Lilly Cooper, the project leader at Eggtooth. The players were introduced first to rigorous systems of hand sanitising and social distance management, then led onto the MUGA pitch for an hour’s preliminary training. 

It’s an interesting moment to start up. With organised outdoor sport virtually the only social activity which is allowed right now to breach the Rule of Six, SheGoals presents an almost unique opportunity in Hastings for adult women of all ages to mingle once a week in a bigger group. And if any players show particular aptitude, there’s the chance for natural progression on to the United Women’s development squad – or indeed the first team.

• SheGoals is free for all women for the first year, funded by Sport England. Sessions are every Friday between 7.45pm and 9pm at The Firs. 

• For more information contact lilly@eggtooth.org.uk or 07944 667807