Every year for the last 4 years Umbrella Sussex have quietly hosted Free Shops a couple of times a year, and especially on Black Friday (AKA Buy Nothing Day). What’s a Free Shop? People bring stuff they no longer need, and take stuff they can use. What sets it apart from say, a clothes swop,…
Tag: community organising
Another Day at the Council
Words: Merlin Betts. Images: SGH The morning of Thursday 28 August we went to the Hastings Borough Council (HBC) offices, hoping to catch the housing department after their weekly meeting. Three of us were with Thomas, a homeless man who the council are fighting in court. As I joined the group, another person responding to…
A Day Out at the Protestival
Text: Ethan Oshoko. Photo: @sonskaphotographystudio On Sunday the 13 July, residents from all over Hastings and St Leonards came together on the old bathing pool site in West St Leonards, in order to demonstrate two things: First, they demonstrated that developers will not be allowed to take public land and exploit it purely for profit…
Protest for ‘intentionally homeless’ family facing eviction
Grace L After two and a half years in temporary accommodation, Thomas and Alice (not their real names) are appealing to Hastings Council to give them and their young child a secure home. Unlike other homeless families in temporary accommodation who are on the waiting list for social housing and can bid for places as…
Are ‘Protestivals’ the Future?
Simon Lee, photo: @sonskaphotographystudio Something extraordinary happened at the old lido in St Leonards this July. Billed as a protestival, people gathered to show the local administration and property developers that really, we have had enough! In a hastily organised, but beautifully executed gathering, the people of St Leonards proclaimed their resolve and opposition to…
Hastings Assembles for Local Democracy
On 29 March, Hastings Assembles held a community assembly for two hours in Hastings Town Centre, for local people to meet and discuss the planned changes to local government, including the plan to abolish Hastings Borough Council and bring in a new elected mayor for all of Sussex. The afternoon kicked off with Julia Hilton, leader of Hastings council, explaining the overall…
Let the People Pedal
David Williams For this article, I had a chat with Mat, the current project leader at the Hastings Bike Project (HBP). We talk about the origins, past, present and future plans of the project, as well as the challenges and joys of cycling, mastering the mechanics and running a community bike workshop. A Little Goes…
HASHTA Hacked by Southern Housing
Andrea Cowhig, Treasurer of Hastings Area Southern Housing Tenants Association (HASHTA) recalls how the tenants’ association started, discusses Southern Housing’s ongoing miscommunications and contradictions, and recounts her battle with damp and mould. So, my journey first started when I saw Southern Housing Action which was an online community for tenants of Southern Housing that have had…
Unite for our rights in Hastings
Alan Mathison, Hastings Branch Secretary, Unite the Union Have you ever thought about joining a trade union? The Hastings branch of Unite the Union is holding our Annual General Meeting on March 12th and we want to open it up to anyone in the town who is interested in finding out what our union is…
Hastings Fisherman Faces Eviction
No-one deserves to be removed from their home and abandoned to the streets. Having grown up in Hastings, Karl (not his real name) worked as a fisherman for many years, surrounded by a strong local community, and also spent some happy years living abroad. But everything started to go downhill after health problems in his…