Hastings Trust Festive Bash and Shutdown

The Annual Trust Festive Bash will be held at 35 Robertson Street from 12.30 to 3.00 on Friday 19th December 2008. Food and drink will be available. Come and join us to celebrate the festive period.

The Trust will be closed from 19th December to 5th January 2009

Calendar Girls (and Boy)

Well done to everyone for the fundraising effort for the Arts Forum. A reminder to all that the calendars are available to buy for £10 from the Arts Forum, Hastings Trust and the Azur.

Thanks to everyone for their support

friends of the arts forum present..........

Calendar Girls (and Boy)

Tickets for the launch party on 20th November at Azur are now available at Hastings Trust Resource Centre reception, 35 Robertson Street, for £5.

Calendar Girls (and Boy)

Hastings Trust is supporting Hastings Arts Forum in its aim of raising funds to progress its activities. A few weeks ago 11 lovely girls and 1 lovely boy posed for photographer Irene Bakundukize in order to create our own version of the Women's Institute infamous calendar. Hastings College kindly donated their time to do marvellous things with hair and makeup - wish I could keep them, my hair was fabulous!

An evening of celebration to launch the calendar is to be held at The Azur, Marina Pavilion, on Thursday 20th November 8pm til late. Tickets are £5 in advance or £6 on the door and can be purchased from Azur Reception, Hastings Arts Forum and Hastings Trust. The ticket price includes a complementary Azur cocktail and a raffle ticket.

There will be a catwalk of the all the calendar girls (and boy), though not in our calendar 'costumes' (or lack of them!!), an auction of the original prints presided over by my lovely Simon, live band, dj and disco.

Calendars will be available to buy on the night - £8 each

Hope to see you there.

Job Opportunity with the Trust

Hastings Trust has a vacancy for a part-time position of Assistant Director – Assets and Enterprise to work with our Executive Director to maximise the impact of our asset base and to develop new enterprise within the organisation. Hours are negotiable and the salary offered is £30,000 pa (pro rata).

This is an exciting opportunity to join the dedicated Trust team which aims to promote the social, economic, cultural and environmental regeneration of Hastings and St Leonards.

For more information and an application pack please contact Mel Bonney-Kane, Executive Director, on 01424 452523 or e-mail mel@hastingstrust.co.uk

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Monday 17th November

Coastal Currents 2008

There's lots of great stuff going on for Coastal Currents this year…it's all in our brochure, which you can pick up around town, but here are some highlights for your diary…

Thursday Late & Live (4 Sept 4-7pm) in Hastings Town Centre

FREE Family fun:

Dragon Heart Beat: a smoking, bass-thumping dragon

Ladies of the Waves: the world's only dry-land synchronized swimming

The Dinner Party: a lesson in etiquette on a roving table

Wildman : running through the streets

Le Grand Peepshow: a sexy, surreal live show

In and around Priory Meadow.

Fair Maid of the South East (Fri 5 Sept 7pm //Sat 6 Sept 2pm and 7pm) at Hastings Castle

A barnstorming tale of pirates, romance and misunderstanding on the high seas, by Third Party Productions. Swordfighting, live music and a galleon on wheels. Suitable for all the family.

Adults £8 / Children (under 11) £3. Call 0845 274 1001 to book.

Live Arts Weekend (Sat 13 and Sun 14 Sept) in Alexandra Park (various sites)

Arts in the Park featuring:

Etiquette (10am– 5pm) at eat@ the Park Cafe: Star in your own performance, wearing headphones which provide directions. The New York Times describes this experience as "gripping..."
A half hour slot costs £5 for two people.

Call 01424 717464 to book.

Also at live arts weekend...

Cine Yurt (12pm-5pm) nr bandstand: 'Bygone Hastings'. FREE . Celebrating Hastings' heritage as one of the first places to make and screen films as public entertainment.

Sound-scape (13 Sept only, 3pm) Bandstand: FREE Live performance from singer/songwriter Claire Hamill

Control (19 Sept 8pm) Masonic Hall, East Ascent, St Leonards

Fantastically energetic performers from Nunah Physical Theatre Company draw you into the spirit of their dwelling. This show will make you laugh, empathise and gyrate in your seat! Followed by a DJ until 12 midnight.

Entry restricted to 15 years and over.

Tickets £8, can be purchased in advance from Spikes Café, 39 Norman Road.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Sat 20 Sept and Sun 21 Sept 7pm) at St Leonards Gardens

Eyeline Production's abridged version of Shakespeare's comic tale of duped and doped lovers, fairies and magic returns by popular demand to the beautifully restored St Leonards Gardens. This is a promenade performance – dress for British Summer!

Adults £8 / Children (under 11) £3.

Call 01424 201192 / 07903561007 to book.

The free Coastal Currents brochure is available from Hastings Information Centre, Queen's Square,

Tel: 0845 274 1001

See also: www.coastalcurrents.org.uk

For more information please contact:

Naomi Robinson | 01424 717 464 | naomi36hours@googlemail.com

John Knowles | 01424 717 464 | info@thirty-six-hours.co.uk

Hastings Trust AGM

Join the Trust now so you can vote at the Annual General Meeting. Membership forms are available at the Resource Centre, 35 Robertson Street, or by contacting Peta by e-mail at peta@ hastingstrust.co.uk
We are looking for nominations for new Board members - join us in supporting the economic, social, cultural and environmental regeneration of Hastings.
If you want to know more about what is involved in being a member of our Board of Management give me a call on (01424) 446373
Our AGM will be held at the exciting new arts space in Hastings, F-ISH, on the ground floor of the Creative Media Centre, 44-45 Robertson Street, Hastings.
The gallery will be open on Thursday the11th September for the meeting from 12 noon for a 12.30 start, with lunch provided. Please confirm your attendance by e-mailing me at mel@hastingstrust.co.uk

If you would like to join the Board we need to know by 5.00pm on 30th August at the latest.
I look forward to seeing you on the 11th September.

Coastal Currents is coming

Coastal Currents returns to Hastings from 29th August to 21st September 2008 with its annual celebration of cultural offerings and three weeks of contemporary visual and live arts. For full details of what's going on please look out for the programme and check out the website www.coastalcurrents.org

Hastings Trust AGM

The Annual General Meeting is fast approaching - it really doesn't seem like a year since the last one when I was still completing my application for Christine's job!!
This year our AGM will be held over lunch in the new f-ish gallery in Robertson Street (at the bottom of CMC2) on 11th September.
Invitations will be coming out soon along with our fantastic annual review.

MyPlace

MyPlace is government funding being administered by the Big Lottery. Worth up to £5 million per project the Department for Children, Families and Schools wants to fund 'world class' youth facilities and Hastings Trust is working with the Borough and County Council, along with local young people to put a bid together. Its a lot of work to do but if we're successful it will provide state of the art facilities for young people, planned and designed by young people and ultimately managed by young people. This will keep me busy until the end of September when the bid is due in!!

Hot off the press

Hello everyone, just a quick post to let you know that the new Hastings Trust newsletter will soon be dropping through your letterbox or into your inbox. We would welcome any comments on the content. Please also note that there is an application form for Trust membership in the inside back cover. Thanks to Kevin for his tireless efforts in putting the newsletter together with the staff team's contributions, and the volunteers who are preparing the mailout as I write.

Creating community assets

Hastings Trust has been working in partnership with Hastings Borough Council, Hastings Voluntary Action and other stakeholders to bid for funds from the Big Lottery Community Assets Fund to secure money to refurbish Jackson Hall in order that it can be passed into community ownership to act as office and incubation space for the third sector. We heard last week that our bid for approximately £750,000 has been successful. A great example of partnership working, this project demonstrates the commitment of the local authority to help to provide the right environment for a thriving third sector. Thanks must go to Glyn Carter, Economic Development Manager at HBC, and Steve Manwaring, Executive Director of Hastings Voluntary Action, for their commitment to and assistance with putting the bid together. Now the hard work starts with putting together a capital build programme and business plan to secure the sustainability of the asset into the future. More information is available on Hastings Voluntary Action's website www.hastingsvoluntaryaction.org

Watch this space for more updates as they happen.

News updates

Once again work has kept me so busy I've not had time to post.



So......what's been going on?



Community assets transfer - working in partnership with HBC, HVA and the wider community a bid has been submitted to the Community Assets Fund for funding to convert Jackson Hall, Portland Place from the Tressell Training base to a new community hub. If successful in our bid for 3/4 million, the building will be refurbished and transferred by the Borough Council into the ownership of the community. We've also had facilitated workshops with the Development Trusts Association (as you know, Hastings Trust is a member of the DTA) to help partners to identify the needs and best uses for the building. We've got through the first stage cull and are hoping for a decision by the end of March. Your support is needed to help this valuable bid go forward. Thanks must go to the Council for their commitment and willingness to transfer such a valuable asset to the community, and thanks in particular to Glyn Carter, Economic Development and Inclusion Officer, for his hard work and support.



Working Neighbourhoods - HBC will receive almost £2.2 million funding for 2007-08 to deliver a programme of initiatives aimed at helping to support employment and enterprise development in Hastings. I had the opportunity to facilitate a workshop at the working neighbourhoods conference held at the Town Hall recently which will inform the delivery of the programme. It is important that the role of the third sector in enabling community economic development and inclusion is recognised and I am happy to work with partners to advocate this position. Get in touch if you want to know more.



Hastings Voluntary Action AGM and annual conference - this excellent event was held at Horntye Park and I was elected onto the Board of Hastings Voluntary Action. This is great for me as it will help to strengthen links between two key third sector infrastructure organisations in Hastings, and was a personal pleasure as I am a relative new-comer to the sector in Hastings - so thanks to everyone who voted for me. I look forward to serving on HVA's board and supporting the incredible work of this key organisation.



Welcome to Respond Academy - I am pleased to be able to report that we have welcomed Respond into the ground floor of our premises at Silchester Mews, St Leonards. I look forward to being able to work with JC and Pablo and support their excellent work.



And more property news - our state of the art training facility at Linton Viaduct, Braybrooke Terrace is in the process of being leased to our private sector training partners Study Xpress who have been key to the delivery of construction training with our Skills2Build project. Study Xpress' excellent work should be commended as should their commitment to Hastings shown by the recent opening of their second training facility in Western Road, St Leonards.



The Resource Centre, Robertson Street - thanks to the investment of Hastings Community Resource Ltd, watch out for new and improved facilities within our resource centre. This has commenced with the installation of an all-singing, all-dancing colour photocopier which is available for use by local residents and groups for community printing.


Volunteering opportunities - as you probably know our resource centre is staffed by an fabulous team of skilled and professional volunteers, but we are always looking for more. If you want to join our team full training and support is available. It's a great way to gain valuable experience to help you to find paid work, and is a fantastic way to support your community and your local Development Trust. If you want to know more, call in and speak to Heather.

www.hastingstrust.co.uk in redevelopment

Hello everyone, its been a busy month so apologies for not posting here.


I would like to thank Kevin Carias, long time Hastings Trust-er, for his on-going work in redeveloping our website. The front page has now been updated and Kevin is now working with the team to ensure that all the pages are up to date. This may take some time so please bear with us. If there is anything in particular that you would like us to include on the site please let us know.

Kevin is also in the process of putting together our long overdue newsletter so keep an eye out for it arriving in your inbox or through your letterbox.

My big bro' got married

Say hello and congratulations to my gorgeous brother Sean and his beautiful wife Frances. They got married in Calgary, Canada, just before Xmas but unfortunately I couldn't be there.

Sean and Frances are both acclaimed poets who usually make their home in Hackney and hopefully they'll be back here in the UK with us soon.

You can find Sean's blog at http://abandonedbuidlings.blogspot.com (but for those of a sensitive nature be aware that Sean's work is far from U rated!)

Council Restructure

As my former life was Regeneration Programme Manager at Hastings Borough Council I am sure that you will all appreciate that the Council restructure is close to my heart. Notwithstanding the fact that my former colleagues are effected, the importance for the wider community should not be underestimated. Now is the time that we need to be formulating a considered a response to the Chief Executive. The deadline for responses has been extended to 23rd January and I can provide further details about the proposals. Community partnerships, neighbourhood renewal (including the wardens), economic development and regeneration are all effected by the restructure. If you want to work with me to put together a response please give me a ring or drop me an e-mail.

Arts in Hastings
In relation to provision for arts and cultural development, there is to be a special meeting on 22nd January at 7.00pm at Hastings Arts Forum, 36 Marina, St Leonards on Sea, where Penny Precious, HBC's Cultural Development Officer, will be giving a presentation on the impact of the proposed restructure on the arts in Hastings. If you want to find out more and have a view to give, I strongly encourage you to come along and join us at the meeting.

Hello!

Hello friends, its been a while since I posted so I thought I'd say hello. I have a number of things to update you on which I'll do over the course of the evening. Firstly though you'll notice, regular visitors, that my photo has changed. New year, new hair colour! But I've spent at least a fortnight walking round Hastings with people not recognising me! So, I don't have a twin - it is me! See you all later

Support Hastings Old Town Residents' Association's Post Office Campaign

Please join with us in supporting Hastings Old Town Residents' Association in their campaign to oppose the proposed closure of the Old Town Post Office in George Street.

HOTRA has asked the community for support in fighting the proposed closure and has submitted a number of petitions to our MP, our local political leaders, and to the Government Office for the South East, along with letters of support to the Post Office consultation team. We now have to play the waiting game, but I feel that it is valuable to note the passion and commitment with which HOTRA are spearheading this campaign and it is clear that there will be no giving up without a fight. I am committed to providing HOTRA with whatever support they may require in taking this campaign forward.

For more information please contact Dick Edwards, Chair of the Old Town Residents' Association at East Hill House, 13 Tackleway, telephone 01424 437069

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of our friends - I hope that 2008 shall be a memorable and exciting year for all of us.

The Trust is always looking for new members to get involved in our work so make a new year's resolution and commit yourself to supporting the regeneration of Hastings and St Leonards by supporting your local development trust.

Trust membership is open to both individuals (aged over 18) and organisations and membership benefits include:
* entitlement to vote at our AGM to elect Board members and to determine policy direction
* receipt of our Annual Report
* receipt of our newsletter and other Trust information / updates
* personal invitations to Trust events

An application form for membership and a copy of our Memorandum and Articles of Association are available from Peta McGarry at the Resource Centre. Subscription rates are as follows:

- Individuals £10.00 per annum
- Students, senior citizens, unwaged £4.00 per annum
- Organisations £20.00 per annum