Press Releases week beginning 07 October 2019

Hastings Museum and Art Gallery launches travel bursary for schools

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery launches travel bursary for schools

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery, through the Museums and Schools Programme, is offering travel bursaries to local schools who may find it difficult to fund transport for their students to visit the museum.

Kim Forward, lead councillor for culture said,
"The museum is offering up to £200 towards travel costs for five schools to visit before 28th February 2020. The scheme is flexible and there is no deadline for applications but it's best to apply as soon as possible. We know that school budgets are very tight and that many schools need to pay for transport to visit our museum. We hope that this fund will enable more children to enjoy a school trip to our wonderful museum and art gallery."

The Museums and Schools Programme, funded by Arts Council England, has allowed the museum to develop fun, interactive workshops where young people get hands-on with history.

For more information go to the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery website or contact museum@hastings.gov.uk

Do you want to help improve opportunities for deprived communities in Hastings and Bexhill?

CHART (Connecting Hastings and Rother Together) need new volunteer board members to join our Local Action Group for 2020

CHART is a Community Led Local Development Programme with access to £2.8m of European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) to support new projects that tackle deep-rooted problems in deprived communities within Hastings and Bexhill.  Local groups will run projects to support local people. They will help them to find and keep work, start businesses and create jobs.

The Role of the Local Action Group (LAG)

The LAG is made up of 12-15 local people. Members are made up of residents and representatives from the public sector, voluntary groups and local businesses. The LAG ensures the aims of the programme are delivered and consider projects for funding.

Kim Forward, lead councillor for regeneration at Hastings Borough Council said,

"This is an exciting time to join the group as projects start to get going. You'll get to work with other people who are dedicated to helping the hardest to reach people in the community.

We particularly want to hear from residents within the CHART areas. This is an unpaid role and you will need to commit time to it but training will be given. This is a unique opportunity to make a real difference to people's lives in Hastings and Bexhill."

If you are interested please fill in the application on the CHART website and return them to CHART@hastings.gov.uk by Friday 01 November 2019 at 5pm.

Old Town Hall for Sale

Hastings Borough Council is inviting expressions of interest to buy the Old Town Hall, in Hastings Old Town.  The Old Town Hall was built in 1823 but was soon too small for Hastings Corporation as it then was, which moved its headquarters to the Town Hall in Queen's Road in 1881.  After that, the Old Town Hall was used as a museum, until that closed in 2015.  The building was then rented as a Children's Discovery Centre, but this closed last year.

Peter Chowney, leader of Hastings Borough Council said,

"We've been advertising this building for rent for over year.  Although there has been no interest, no-one has come forward with a proposal to take it on.  It's a difficult and expensive building to maintain, and its listed status means it can't be divided up or substantially modified. 
As a registered Asset of Community Value, there is an initial six-week moratorium period for qualifying local community interest groups to express an interest in bidding for the property.

"If any eligible community interest groups express an interest in bidding to buy the building during this time, a six-month moratorium period will give the community group time to prepare their bid.

"At the end of the six months, if an eligible community group has successfully put a bid together, the owner will have the option to either accept the bid or sell the property freely on the open market.
However, we are still open to proposals from local groups or businesses to take on a lease for the building - we have now had expressions of interest from a couple of local groups, so we'll be looking at those.  But in the end, we can't just leave the building empty as it's a blight on the High Street - it needs to be occupied, by someone who can maintain it, afford the bills, and make good use of it."

Expressions of Interest can be submitted in writing by email at fplanning@hastings.gov.uk or post to Planning Policy, Hastings Borough Council, Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3UY. They must be received by 5pm Tuesday 19 November 2019.

Further information on the Community Right to Bid and the Expressions of Interest process can be found on the council website at https://www.hastings.gov.uk/my_community/righttobid/bid/
and https://www.hastings.gov.uk/my_community/righttobid/ACVforsale/