Hastings first community energy investment offer!

10th December 2018

Energise Sussex Coast (ESC) have announced the launch of the 1066 community energy offer.

You are invited to join them for the launch event on 13 December 2018, 5:30–7:30pm at East Sussex College, Station Plaza.

This is the first community energy investment offer in Hastings. ESC, in partnership with Brighton Energy Coop, are raising £180,000 through community shares to fund 250 kilowatts of solar panels (roughly 1066 panels as it happens) on East Sussex College. The college will save roughly £4250 per year on its energy bills.

Living in a solar town was something I dreamed of when co-founding Energise Sussex Coast in 2012. And here, hopefully, is the beginning of it.
Richard Watson, ESC director

The offer is open to anyone but they are especially keen to invite as many local residents, local businesses and community organisations as possible to invest in the future of the college and Hastings.

With the transformation of the energy market underway ESC hope that excess power generated during weekends and holiday periods can be sold to local residents in the Ore Valley at affordable prices.

By investing in 1066 community energy you are supporting the transition to low carbon energy and a fairer energy future and will receive a reasonable return on your investment.

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Help the LWA Amend the Agricultural Bill

5th December 2018

From local, organic food grower Pea Pod Veg‘s Abby Nicol…

“It’s time to amend the agriculture bill. Click on the link below to write to your MP and share the news far and wide. In the face of devastating climate change and widening inequality in society we need a agriculture bill that is progressive and serves everyone and looks to the future. We need to be able to shout about how the solutions exist and not feel embarrassed about calling for agroecology, organic farming, nature based farming, farming jobs, rights for rural workers and more. We need farmers 3 times a day, we must stand up for them and fight for a truly sustainable food system.”

So please take a moment to check out the Land Workers’ Alliance website and have your say before its too late.

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Hastings Trust Legacy Archive

10th November 2018

As the long-standing, local organisation The Hastings Trust draws to a close it’s now possible to view an online archive of the trust’s work. For over 30 years the trust worked with scores of local partners on hundreds of initiatives to improve the quality of life for people in Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea. The website is a record of that achievement and a resource for those who follow in it’s footsteps. Archive materials featuring 25 years of conservation, environmental improvements and regeneration work includes complete sets of newsletters and annual reviews plus a selection of photos, films, presentations and project documents that are free to download.

Visit the site.

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Celebrating sustainable practices at The Big Green Fair

27th September 2018

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.

Something for everyone young and old!

Visit the website for more details: http://www.sustainabilityonsea.org.uk

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Launch of Hastings Refill

23rd September 2018

Project aims to save people money and reduce plastic pollution

Saturday 22 September, 10am – 4pm, St Mary in the Castle, Hastings: Hastings Green Party and Transition Town Hastings [2] will be launching a new water bottle refill scheme for Hasting next Saturday (22 September) at the Ocean Symposium [3] at St Mary in the Castle.

Over fifty local businesses in Hastings have already signed up to the scheme.

Julia Hilton of Hastings Green party said: ‘The Hastings Refill scheme [4] is part of a nationwide initiative to reduce plastic pollution and save people money by encouraging them to carry and refill a water bottle rather than constantly buying plastic water bottles [5]. Wherever you see one of the blue ‘Free Tap Water Available Here’ stickers on display, you’ll know you’re welcome to ask for a free refill. Or you can download the app from https://www.refill.org.uk, which makes it quick, easy and free to find out where to refill on the go.’

Sarah Macbeth of Transition Town Hastings added: ‘We’ve all heard of the phrase; reduce, reuse, recycle. Often recycle is where the focus lies. But with this scheme, we’re going straight to the heart of the matter: reduce! According to recent research British households are failing to recycle as many as 16m plastic bottles every day – nearly half the total used [6]. By refilling bottles we can help reduce this waste while also taking away the need for recycling, itself a complicated process when it comes to plastics.’

Any café, restaurant or business with easy access to water can sign up to be part of the scheme, either using the online app at https://www.refill.org.uk or by emailing refillhastings@gmail.com.

NOTES

[1] https://hastings.greenparty.org.uk
[2] https://www.transitiontownhastings.org.uk
[3] The Ocean Symposium will run from 10am – 4.00 pm at St Mary’s in the Castle on Saturday 22 September. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-ocean-symposium-2018-and-marine-exhibition-tickets-46801977976
[4] https://www.refill.org.uk/refill-scheme/refill-hastings

[5] https://www.refill.org.uk
[6] ‘British households fail to recycle a ‘staggering’ 16m plastic bottles a day’, Guardian, 15 October 2016,https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/15/british-households-fail-to-recycle-a-staggering-16m-plastic-bottles-a-day

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Sustainability on Sea festival this September!

30th August 2018

Transition Town Hastings and Energise Sussex Coast are jointly coordinating a new festival all about sustainable practices in the local area.

Join us on Sept 21-30 for some inspiring events including nature walks, talks, demos, debates and tips on reducing plastic, a DIY solar workshop and more. We are also proud to promote events by local groups such as Sussex Wildlife Trust, Surfers Against Sewage, OVESCO, Hastings Furniture Service and Pier to Eternity.

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.

The festival finale event is a Big Green Fair on the Stade Open Space, Stade hall and Classroom on the Coast. The day will include talks, demos, art workshops, food workshops, bike checks, music, local information stalls and eco products for sale. Not to be missed!

See www.sustainabilityonsea.org.uk for more details.

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Refill scheme in Hastings

28th June 2018

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 l et us know and we’ll give you a sticker for the window and the necessary info.

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Cohousing Talk presentation

13th May 2018

On May 11th Julian Howell gave a short talk about cohousing projects and a very clear ‘how to’ to help groups to get started. Julian Howell is a founder member of Sussex Cohousing a Brighton-based community in the making.

After the talk there was a lively discussion about what people were interested in doing locally. There was an interest in finding ways to live together in a supportive and collaborative way or living with a deeper connection to nature by sharing land. We hope the conversation continues and cohousing projects or land sharing projects can be realised in and around Hastings, a town where good quality affordable housing is hard to find.

Download Julian’s talk here:

About cohousing 2018 – Julian Howell

Sign up to the Hastings Cohousing discussion if you are interested in joining a conversation about cohousing in the Hastings area – a closed group on Groups.io.

New Economics Foundation have recently published this guide to help groups looking to build community-led, affordable housing development in their area overcome one of their greatest obstacles: acquiring land.

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Help keep Hastings Pier in community ownership

9th May 2018

Friends of Hastings Pier have been pushed into a corner by an Administration process that is unsuitable for a community-owned asset. They have put forward alternative plans which are exciting and realistic but been told that they won’t take the bid seriously unless we have £1M available. That’s why they’re pushing this crowdfunder. Raising half a million pounds now from individuals and organisations will keep us ‘in the game’ and encourage other funders to invest alongside you to make our Pier a success.

Hastings Pier has been a beacon of community-led regeneration, a pioneer in the world of community shares, and an inspiration to community groups across the country. The hazard faced is not just for Hastings; if the People’s Pier fails perceptions of community ownership will be badly damaged, even though community ownership was never the problem and is definitely part of the solution.

Please help in any way you can – most obviously and most immediately by clicking the link and then spreading the word.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/fohp2018

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Helps us win Tesco’s #BagsofHelp fund

9th February 2018

Our new project Meet you by the Mosaic has been shortlisted for a public vote in Tesco’s #BagsofHelp initiative!

We want to work with the local community and a local artist to develop a mosaic near the front of St Leonards Warrior Square station.

Please vote for Meet you by the Mosaic in stores during the months of March/April to help us secure a grant of up to £2,000.

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Transitioning to a sustainable future