Tag archives for merlin betts
Get Rich or Try Sharing
MERLIN BETTS About four years ago, as the covid pandemic was spreading its wings, people started seeing eggs. On walls, on bridges, prominently displayed in locations across London and the…
Social Landlord Leaves 53 Homes Empty
MERLIN BETTS reports from the Housing Rebellion protest and occupation of Clifton Court The blocks of Clifton Court sit on the edge of Castle Ward, minutes from the town centre.…
Striking Teachers Demand Better Funding
MERLIN BETTS Earlier this week, members of the National Education Union (NEU) went on strike at five schools across Sussex, four of them in Hastings. The union’s principal point of…
Taking Power Back through Community Conversation
MERLIN BETTS Despite the abysmal state of our national politics, last Sunday (16 June) I felt like there was a bit of electricity in the air, a sparkle in the…
Teachers to Strike Over School Trust Management
MERLIN BETTS On Saturday 8 June the National Education Union (NEU) held a meeting to consult with parents and the public on possible strike action against University of Brighton Academies…
Using Your Grief to Decorate Newspapers
MERLIN BETTS Becky StrongSalena Godden The title here is a line that sticks with me, especially as election time comes round, and don’t worry – the irony is not lost.…
Even Banks Should Learn: Homes Aren’t Assets
MERLIN BETTS We’re marching down the middle of the street. I’ve got a notepad and placard in hand, red jackets rustling, red banners flying. We’re chanting, “The renters, united, will…
A Broadcastfrom Southern Housing
MERLIN BETTS As I walk through the mud of Church Wood on my way to Tilekiln Community Centre, that cool evening air paying no attention to the sun’s beating rays,…
Arts and social hub opens at Stella Dore
MERLIN BETTS Some of you will have wandered into St Andrews Mews of an evening only to stumble across a bustling night of art, performance and music, dripping with delectable…
Celebrating Sunshine on Sea!
MERLIN BETTS I’d not met Chris before, but he’s well known and loved around town, variously as the Buddhist postie and the man behind the Hastings Beach meditation group that’s…
Community Power Through Community Union
MERLIN BETTS writes about the recent work of Acorn Community Union, which uses direct action to campaign for tenants’ rights Naomi GannYour author celebrates a victory with other Acorn members…
Rebels Protest Social Housing Auction
Last Friday, campaigners from Housing Rebellion spent some hours occupying a property that Southern Housing has put up for auction. Merlin Betts ; Merlin BettsNo. 3 Beaconsfield Road pictured last…
Poets, Poetry, Performance
MERLIN BETTS reviews the Hastings poetry scene and a crowning literary night with Salena Godden and Friends on behalf of Hastings Book Festival Salena Godden S-Bars Oli Spleen It started…
A Bit of Science and a Bit of Honesty
Annie Spratt, Unsplash MERLIN BETTS discusses climate change in response to Jonathan Andrews’ article (HIP 234) Whether facts are convenient or not, they’re supposed to Some people think ‘true’ is…
Keep Your Tenant in Mind
MERLIN BETTS on a new production at The Stables Imagine for a moment. Your art, your creativity, flushed down the drain. All your hopes of appreciation and success lost in…
HYP: Merlin Betts
Together, Alone “The wall is such a loud canvas, sometimes it hurts my ears.”I was invited to do this. Possibly I'd complained about it early on and then later there…
Preserving the Life of St Helen’s
MERLIN BETTS There are a lot of magical places in Hastings that you just don’t notice until you’ve been here for a few years. Some of us gravitate towards the…
Book Festival Patrons Gather for Symposium
MERLIN BETTS Oli Spleen Or a soiree, a presentation, even just a poetry reading with Q+A to finish. On Wednesday June 14, Hastings Book Festival hosted its triumvirate of patrons…
Atoms and Societies – all Tearable
MERLIN BETTS Yokel GrahamSo Help Me Dog Last Saturday, a new exhibition opened at Stella Dore on Norman Road, showing work by David Oates and Yokel Graham. The gallery had…
The Battle of Boyley
MERLIN BETTS A group of young skaters have organised a day of community celebration, skating and art at the Boyley Skatepark. All volunteers under 21, the Boyley Action Group has…
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…
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…
Down Low and Living the High Life
Merlin Betts reviews High Rise Connecting Conversations, a European Cultural Foundation/EUNIC-funded installation by partners: ExploreTheArch Theatre Company in Hastings, and Seria project in Kyiv, with the co-operation of Hastings Borough…
A Housing Crisis Debate
Reader's Letter: A Landlord's View Local resident/landlord Jamie writes to ’ve been reading through your recent commentary of the Hastings housing crisis with a mixture of sadness at some of…