We have £25,000 available in grant funding to support local voluntary, community, social enterprise (VCSE) and youth organisations working with Hastings residents. We’re looking for your unique knowledge of your beneficiary group to raise awareness of the benefits of smoking cessation and the free local Stop Smoking services provided by One You East Sussex. Ultimately, we would like to increase referrals to and take-up of these services.

One way of doing this is to highlight and present details of services using materials that will both appeal to and resonate with the groups you are working with.  You might want to buy improved signage to present smoking in and around your premises.  You could also design and run Smoking Cessation sessions to encourage people to give up smoking and provide additional support throughout the process. Grants of up to £4,500 are available.

We are now operating a rolling programme so there is no deadline for application submission, but delivery of your projects should be completed in November 2026.

For further information please see Guidance for Applicants and SFG Application Form attached below.  You can also contact Jan Papworth  ([email protected]) who can answer any questions and help you with your application.

The Jeder workshops are a gathering for people who are building inclusive, active communities – VCSE organisations, residents and local authority colleagues who believe that lasting change starts within communities.

There are four workshop days taking place across East Sussex and you are welcome to join one, two, three or even all four days.

Please book through eventbrite via links or QR codes – People from all sectors welcome.  Any queries contact [email protected]

Cancer Connections

HVA Macmillan Cancer Champions are holding what promises to be an inspirational event on Wednesday 10th June, 10.30 – 16.30, at the Hastings Centre on the Ridge.

Come along and find out more about the cancer support services, screening programmes, complementary therapies and more. Hear from specialist speakers about the latest research and have conversations about cancer in a safe environment.

Hear directly from our brilliant cancer support champions, browse a marketplace of organisations providing services, information and support and sample tasty food from our street food truck for lunch. There will be storytelling and art, and a chance to create some scented bath salts with our holistic health team.

Building on the success of our launch event, in June last year, Jane, Yasmine and the cancer champions look forward to welcoming you to this celebration of local support.

Come along if you, or a family member, has been affected by cancer, or if you have been invited to a screening appointment but you’re not quite sure what to expect. Chat to others with lived and professional experience, and find out more about the support available locally.

It’s a perfect opportunity for social prescribers, cancer care coordinators, advice and support providers who signpost to these services, to come and connect on the day.

Find resources to help employers better support employees and enable people living with cancer to remain in work for longer.

Book your place now: https://hastingsvoluntaryaction.org.uk/civicrm/event/info%3Fid%3D656%26reset%3D1 

Or contact [email protected] to find out more

We look forward to seeing you!

It’s a great opportunity to try different treatments, meet experienced practitioners and discover approaches that can support your health and wellbeing. A wide range of therapies are available. Sessions are free for people aged 18–24 and available for a small fee for those aged 25 and over.

For more information, email: [email protected]

Holistic Health Day
13th June, 11am-4pm, Central Hall, TN34 1NG

There is an enclosed courtyard space at Jackson Hall that was out of bounds for many years, as it featured bricks with crumbling mortar, and a wall at risk of collapse.

In line with their corporate social responsibility commitments, a team from Balfour Beatty visited the Jackson Hall site to clear the overgrowth and repair the walls.

Since then, an alternative education provider that operates from Jackson Hall, Enjoycation, have brought the space back into use, and are turning it into a learning garden!

Team HVA are supporting the project as part of their staff volunteering hours, including painting the walls and carrying bucket after bucket of gravel into the space.

There is more work to come, but we are so pleased that these collaborative efforts have enabled us to bring the abandoned space back into use.

If you’d like to make a donation towards the Learning Garden, you can do so here.

We’re proud to be strengthening our partnership with East Sussex College Group to deliver new community food programmes across Hastings.

From Cooking on a Budget workshops to the new Broomgrove Bake Off, these courses are designed to help local adults build confidence, develop practical life skills, improve wellbeing, and explore pathways into further learning and employment.

The programmes are open to adults across the community, including those looking to gain new skills, meet new people, and learn in a supportive environment.

Read more HERE

The University of Brighton and East Sussex County Council are working together to support local voluntary and community organisations to do their own research. They are delivering ten online and in-person workshops on topics including: designing research, collecting data, analysing it, and presenting findings. You can take part whether you are new to doing research, or have some experience already. You can come to all the workshops or just some of them.

Workshop schedule: www.ticketsource.com/research-ready-communities-workshops

Further information on the Research Ready Communities programme and the Research Collaborative Hub: https://www.eastsussexinfigures.org.uk/jsna/research-collaborative-hub-rch/

Queries? Want to join the mailing list? Please email [email protected]

Our Age-Friendly offer in Hastings continues to grow, touching on so many age-related themes, and we have lots coming up. Coffee mornings, reminiscence activities, cookery workshops, specialist info drop-ins and more! Get the dates in your diary, and join us for one of our vibrant sessions.

There is always room for new partners to join our monthly Ageing Network meetings, or to host activities with us at Central Hall. Get in touch!

HVA have a range of events and activities planned for Volunteers’ Week 2026, some in collaboration with our friends at Rother Voluntary Action. We’d love to see you!

Tuesday 2nd June: HVA are holding an organisation / volunteering information stand in Hastings Town Centre. If you are interested in being involved in some way please complete this short form.

Wednesday 3rd June, 3-6pm: HVA & RVA Volunteers Week Celebration Picnic
HVA & Rother Voluntary Action invite local groups, organisations and their volunteers to join us for a picnic at Ashburnham Place to celebrate Volunteers Week! For more details and to book yourself a place, visit Eventbrite.

And in the lead up to Volunteers’ Week the HVA crew will be doing a team volunteering activity. Watch this space for photos!