The new growing season is upon us and we are looking for keen volunteers to help the team at the community garden in St Leonards Warrior Square train station.
The garden has raised beds for vegetables and lots of fruit tress and bushes where we are growing food that the public can help themselves to. We want to improve the area around the station as well as show how you can eat more sustainably by growing organic foods collectively in the local area.
Generally, we alternate weekly between Saturday (10-1) and Sunday (3-6) but always check the events page before coming to a session!
AZUR Marina Pavilion, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex, TN38 0BU
Join a day of inspiration and perspiration at the first showcase event of the Common Treasury of Adaptable Ideas Feeling overwhelmed, paralysed, fearful about the future and looking for a way to take action? This is the event for you
We have booked some truly inspirational speakers to tell us about ideas that have proved successful elsewhere to help towns thrive.
You are welcome to just come and listen, but if you are hungry for new ideas and have the energy to work together to adapt them to the Hastings context, you can be part of the treasure. Small pots of money and mentoring are available to support the growth of new community businesses that emerge from this event.
Confirmed inspirers so far are:
Stella Duffy OBE, the creator of Fun Palaces http://funpalaces.co.uk/about/
Melissa Mean from Knowle West Media Centre, Bristol https://kwmc.org.uk/projects/wecanmake/
Hazel Tilley from Granby 4 Streets Community Land Trust https://www.granby4streetsclt.co.uk
Alison Paule of Paxton Green Timebank http://www.wearetempo.org/impact2017/
Maff Potts of Camerados https://www.camerados.org
TIMETABLE FOR THE DAY Morning Session (9 – 1) ‘Inspiring Ideas from Elsewhere’. Afternoon Session (2 – 4.45) ‘Making it happen in Hastings’.
Taking it forward Following each Common Treasury showcase event, a Taking-it-Forward period of three months will support the development of new ideas, with guidance and wisdom from the inspirers, a facilitator and a development fund of £6,000. Each group will have the opportunity to discuss what they need to develop the idea and then negotiate with the others how to allocate the fund.
The Common Treasury of Adaptable Ideas is a unique Hastings initiative hosted by Energise Sussex Coast & Jericho Road Solutions – generously supported by Power to Change.
Printed Matter Bookshop & Hastings Green Party are hosting a talk with Guy Standing on the idea of a Basic Income at The Printworks, 14 Claremont, Hastings TN34 1HA. Tuesday, 2nd April. 6pm. £2 entry – on the door.
Shouldn’t everyone receive a stake in society’s wealth? Could we create a fairer world by granting a guaranteed income to all? What would this mean for our health, wealth and happiness? Basic Income is a regular cash transfer from the state, received by all individual citizens.
It is an acknowledgement that everyone plays a part in generating the wealth currently enjoyed only by a few. Political parties across the world are now adopting it as official policy and the idea generates headlines every day. Guy Standing has been at the forefront of thought about Basic Income for the past thirty years, and in this book he covers in authoritative detail its effects on the economy, poverty, work and labour; dissects and disproves the standard arguments against Basic Income; explains what we can learn from pilots across the world and illustrates exactly why a Basic Income has now become such an urgent necessity.
Book available from Printed Matter Bookshop and on the night.
Our latest and exciting project is the creation of a mosaic at the front of St Leonards Warrior Square station, entirely designed and crafted by the community.
This activity will benefit the community in th following ways: · Improve the visual appeal of the area outside the station, for the enjoyment of both residents and visitors · Promote pride & ownership in the area and therefore keeping area safe and clean · Help to improve interpersonal skills & reduce isolation through engaging in the project · Encourage self-confidence and belief in what can be achieved.
We
have engaged Emma Law, a well established mosaic maker. She will lead
workshops involving schools, the Seaview Wellbeing Centre, Gizmo DIY
Theatre Company and the general public to design and complete the
mosaic. We will also employ Leigh Dyer, a local blacksmith/artist, to
make a movable frame for the mosaic to sit in and be attached to the
wall.
The estimated cost for the whole project is around £4,000
(approximately 25% for materials, 50% for the movable frame and 25% for
the professional facilitation). We have already raised £1,500 and are
now looking for contributions to cover the remaining £2,500.
We have the wholehearted approval of Southeastern Train Company and we have conducted a street survey with the local community and immediate neighbourhood, and an online survey, with a unanimous response that it would be a positive addition to the area. We are very excited about this project and aim to have it completed by summer 2019.
As experienced by Manuel Boskamp, a very intrepid 17 year old on a research trip to England.
In July 2018, Manuel paid a visit to Transition Town Hastings. During the few days he was with us, we took him to our community garden, the West Street party and the Big Local Fair on power station site in the Ore Valley and shared our experience of transitioning with him.
Interviewing Richard Watson from Energise Sussex Coast
After that he went off, armed with various contacts and offers of places to stay, visiting Lewes, Southampton, Dorchester, Totnes and, finally, London.
Listen to his experience and assessment of what he saw in this very interesting podcast:
Being a seaside town, Refill Hastings is very conscious of the issue of single use plastic. It washes up on our beaches on a daily basis.
In the past Hastings has had a reputation for being a down and out seaside town but it is now experiencing a bit of a resurgence. It is a very creative and somewhat eccentric place and also has a very socially and environmentally aware and active community.
The Refill scheme was initiated by Transition Town Hastings and the local Green Party along with support from Surfers Against Sewage. These local groups (as well as the Marine Conservation Society) carry out beach and street cleans and often collect a lot of plastic waste.
Launch of Hastings Refill at the Ocean Symposium, September 2018.
We’re a small group of volunteers and, so far, we have signed up over 50 venues in the local area to be Refill Stations.
We launched the scheme at the Ocean Symposium at St Mary in the Castle in September 2018.
Julia Hilton of Hastings Green party said:
“The UK currently uses 13 billion plastic bottles every year, but only 7.5 billion of these are recycled with the remaining 5.5 billion either landfilled, littered, or incinerated but we are also lucky enough to have some of the best quality tap water in the world — and with the Refill app it’s easier and cheaper to carry a bottle and refill it than to constantly buy new bottles. We can help make carrying a bottle the norm and make sure people know how easy it is to find their refill.”
Transition Town Hastings will be exhibiting at the Big Green Fair this Sunday.
We have been working on a new festival launched this month called Sustainability on Sea bringing together local groups and initiatives working to make Hastings and St Leonards a more sustainable place to live. They are tackling important issues like single use plastic, a need for affordable housing and cheaper energy bills, healthy eating habits and growing our own food and using cleaner forms of transport.
The festival closes with The Big Green Fair, an all day event at the Stade in Hastings Old Town which takes place this Sunday, 30 Sept between 11-4. Entry is free.
Expect a variety of stall holders selling eco wares as well as information stalls and activities for families from Source BMX, Bike Lab Hastings, Co-wheels car sharing scheme, Refill Hastings, Plastic Free Hastings, Hastings Furniture Service, Hastings Fermentory, Hastings and Rother Beekeepers Association. Energise Sussex Coast, the organisers of the fair, will have information about how to save energy and money on your energy bills.
Bring along your bicycle to get a free bike check from Bike Lab Hastings. Kids can try out BMX bikes from Source BMX, play solar powered retro arcade games, make pompoms with plastic bags, plant seeds and have a go on bikes that generate electricity. There will be information about ways to make electricity from sunlight, wind, flowing water as well as some unusual ways such as used on Mars, electrostatically, from bent crystals and from lemons (yes, lemons!). The East Hill Sunshine Band and comedian Helen Keen will provide entertainment alongside a solar powered cinema.
Drop by for the programme of talks and demos on composting, plastic recycling, sustainable housing, Alexander Technique, Transition Town movement and permaculture in the garden.
The aim is to promote a sustainable future encouraging positive behaviour change and supporting and promoting those who are playing their role towards this goal.
Along with Surfs Against Sewage we’re establishing a Refill scheme in the Hastings area. We’re asking venues, cafes, bars, restaurants etc if they will agree to refill water bottles for free in an aim to reduce the amount of single use plastic being used.
The Refill Scheme is taking the country by storm! Refill recently won Gold at the Global Good Awards for ‘Best Environmental Behaviour Change’. There are now over 1600 Refill stations across the country and that number is set to rise steeply as London joins the movement with the support of Thames Water and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Refill now have a new promotional video which had 150,000 views on Facebook in its first few days.
Refill Hastings now has 23 stations signed up and we will continue to sign up more. We are now receiving support from a newly appointed regional coordinator who is helping us with the formalities and a promotional plan.
We’ve just set up a Refill Hastings Facebook Page so do give us a like!
Don’t forget to download the Refill App to find all refill stations or to add one yourself! If you want to sign a venue up to the scheme do let us know and we’ll give you a sticker for the window and the necessary info.
Thanks to everyone that came along to the last meeting. It was a very lively and upbeat way to start the year! Please find the minutes of the meeting below as drawings! Thanks to Chris for taking them.
