We’ve been working hard fundraising and we are very happy to say we (that’s the community/public/everyone!) are going to create the Mosaic at Warrior Square Station this summer.
This will consist of 11 days of workshops from 10th-19th July at Zoom Arts (right by the station and the mosaic site).
We would love your help at the workshops.
It would be easy things like: Getting room ready Doing some of the mosaic- most important! Watching that people don’t put their grubby hands on the artwork!!! Keep an eye on things not getting too messy in general Sweeping floor occasionally Keeping table and work area clean & regularly wiped Showing people where toilets are Equipping people with aprons/shirts etc Giving out refreshments
Join us at Warrior Square Gardens on June 2nd 2019 (12-3pm) for our biggest Big Lunch yet!
Simply turn up on the day with your food to share, something to sit on and your favourite game. We usually have a fabulous selection of food and play rounders and other games, depending on what people bring.
It’s a great way to get to know people in the community and it’s free! This is an alcohol free event. Bring the whole family!
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!
The Sustainability on Sea (SOS) festival acts as a showcase for local
projects inspiring local residents, young and old, to learn, explore and try
the latest in all things environmentally friendly, whilst also having fun.
After
a successful pilot of SOS Festival in September 2018, Transition Town Hastings,
along with other local partners, have started planning for this year.
The
festival will take place between Saturday
21st–Sunday 29th September 2019, tying in nicely with
World Car Free Day (Sep 22) and culminating with an all-day Big Green Fair on
the 29th. The Green Fair will have stall holders, information
stands, talks, activities for children and entertainment.
The
theme this year will be What we can do,
encouraging everyone to live more sustainably, in small or big ways.
We
invite you to take part in one or all of the following ways:
Volunteer your time to help the festival team plan and run the festival.
Take part as an organisation, school, community group, church group, local project or business. Plan an activity that we can add to our programme.
Add an event or activity to the programme that you know is already happening.
Sign up as a stallholder, information stand or activity for the Big Green Fair.
Let us know of any burning ideas that you would like to try out as part of the festival.
SOS
is a Transition Town Hastings project in partnership with Hastings Furniture
Service, Energise Sussex Coast and the Bexhill and Hastings United
Nations Association.
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:
HOWCH held a meeting in November 2018 with a shout out for talent!
The name comes from similar schemes for Older Women’s Community Housing (OWCH). This group added the “H” for Hastings. It was started in October 2017.
Brekke Larsen explained the vision behind HOWCH was from Denmark where her godfather lived in a co-operative housing scheme. This enabled him to maintain his independence whilst ensuring that he was never lonely. Many years later, Brekke’s niece separated from her husband and went to live with her children in a shared development. In this scheme, everyone had their own front doors but with some shared amenities. There is now a movement towards this type of development in the UK.
Action for Rural Sussex is one such
organisation that is involved in providing advice and support for such schemes.
There are about 200 Community Land Trusts
(CLTs) around the country e.g. Bristol, York, Brent (the most famous). This type of scheme also features in Hastings
Borough Council’s (HBC) manifesto. In
some ways, CLTs fill the gap left by the reduction in council housing.
This is the background to the idea behind HOWCH. It is not for profit. No-one will make money out of this – it is only for the community. There are now 5 people in the Steering Group. Stage 3 funding has been applied for. This will enable HOWCH to set up a legal entity, create a website etc. The next stage is to take this to the community to see what the reaction might be. The Steering Group want to be sure that what they are doing is what the community are interested in.
Hastings Green Party have drafted a declaration endorsement, a letter that tells the Hastings Borough Council we support them in declaring a state of Climate Emergency.
The endorsement seeks to acknowledge Climate Breakdown as the biggest challenge we all face and lays out practical steps the council could take to begin to mitigate our dreadful situation. You don’t have to a be Green Party supporter, just someone who wants a planet that can support us for generations to come.
The only way to tackle this issue is to work together which is why the letter itself doesn’t contain any mention of the Green Party because this needs to be a cross party declaration.
The council are already having a meeting next Wednesday 19th at 6pm to discuss a declaration of Climate Emergency and a decision will be made in February, so the more people support this the better! Please sign and share!
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