Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship Link

Supporters Lynda and Colin Foy have put together a glossy page-per-month planner/calendar for 2011, full of the spirit of Hastings and seaside fun. The calendars are available from the HIC (Hastings’ tourist office) at £10 each. All that money will come to the Friendship Link – thank you, Colin and Linda!

It was almost an African sun that shone on this year’s Singathon and contributed to the party atmosphere. Amber Rudd MP managed to get the BBC’s excellent Paul Siegert along to open proceedings. Paul reminded us that he had been a young reporter on the Hastings Observer, and assured us that the Observer is the best local newspaper in the country! He gave a brief account of the background to the link between the two Hastings, and the suffering inflicted on Sierra Leone and on Hastings Village by a decade of civil war.
The entertainment was varied, from home-grown talent like Gizmo, Sambalanco, South East Stars and the eye-poppingly energetic This Time Around to the authentic West African rythms of King Mascoe and his dancers. Those who came for more traditional choral music were very pleased with the performances of Soundwaves and the new Big Choir, both singing under Roger Wilcock’s expert baton, and everyone was charmed by singer-guitarist Christophe Phillips, who sent the audience home in a mellow frame of mind.
The stage acts were punctuated by a number of interviews with people actively working with and for Hastings Village. Rose Pelling described the remarkable link that Christ Church School has with Kankaylay Islamic School. Kankaylay’s self-build new school now has a roof on, thanks to funds raised by the children at Christ Church. Kevin Boorman spoke movingly of what he saw when a small delegation went out on a Government funded visit to see how our local authority could support local government in the area around Hastings SL. The Sierra Leonean High Commissioner in London, Mr Edward Turay, brought greetings from the President of Sierra Leone and his government’s thanks for the help that Hastings & St Leonards has given over the years. During the afternoon, Mr Turay and his wife met our Mayor, Cllr Kim Forward, Cllrs Jeremy Birch and Peter Pragnell, Roy Mawford and Kevin Boorman of the Borough Council, the Link’s patron Michael Foster, and many of the Link’s supporters. Meanwhile, ex-pat Sierra Leoneans and Hastings families picnicked on the grass in the glorious sunshine and enjoyed the entertainment inside and outside the big marquee.  The Link is very grateful to the Beer Festival Committee and its volunteers for making the facilities available, and to all those who came along and enabled the Link to raise another £1620 towards the regeneration work in Hastings Village. The next event is the inter-schools 7-a-side tournament at Filsham Valley School on Friday 16th July at 1.30pm

. See you there!

Rhys Boorman very bravely ran this year’s Hastings Half Marathon to raise funds for the Link, wearing a genuine SL athletics vest that his dad, Kevin, brought back from the trip to Hastings SL earlier this month. Rhys ran the course in a very creditable 96mins 39 secs. We don’t know yet how much he raised for us. If you want to chip in even now to help swell Rhys’s total, let Kevin Boorman know at the Town Hall or kboorman@hastings.gov.uk. Thanks!

Extract from Commons Hansard on 30 March 2009

Michael Jabez Foster (Hastings and Rye) (Lab): I guess that we do not need reminding—although it is always worth doing so—that the economic tsunami that is now engulfing our world metes out its worst effects to those who are the least able to defend themselves. That includes many of the nations of Africa, including Sierra Leone. We heard a lot about that country from my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas) earlier.
I believe that we need to keep things simple. A combination of trade and aid is needed, but the sub-plot is the question of how we can best deliver this to the greatest effect. Whether we are combating climate change or relieving poverty, it starts with us as individuals. What we do can make a significant difference. I am ever impressed by the work of the fair trade advocates. For example, in my constituency, Christine and Michael Ward knock on our doors and our consciences, reminding us constantly that, for only a few pennies more, we can purchase fairly traded tea, coffee and other products, which gives hope and opportunity to the growers in the third world that would otherwise be denied to them.
I also recognise that helping to build undeveloped economies, while important, does not resolve the concerns of the here and now. Starving children cannot wait for the upturn in the economy. That is why I am delighted by the comment by our Prime Minister that, even in this difficult time, the wealthy nations must play their part. I hope that the G20 will make that resolution. The test will be that they will have failed if they do not recognise the needs of Africa as a priority. As a Labour Member, I am obviously justifiably proud that we have trebled the spend on overseas programmes over the past 12 years, and that we are now the second biggest giver of international aid in the world. However, I would still like us to go for the gold as soon as possible.
It is true that, while Government agencies and non-governmental organisations such as World Vision do an amazing job, concern is frequently expressed about how much of the aid reaches its proper destination, and about how much corruption depletes the value of the giving. I am often reminded of the words of the late, lamented Lord Donald Soper, a Christian socialist who was a great hero of mine. He spent much of his time standing on a soap box at Speakers’ Corner. One Sunday, one of the wags in the audience asked him why we should give overseas aid, when half of it never reached the poor. Lord Soper replied that that was a reason for giving twice as much. I think he had a point.
However, there is a better way of making every pound count, and of reducing administrative costs and the risk of corruption. I know that the British Government have been working hard on this, and if it can all be done, it will provide a better answer. I heard my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby explaining earlier some of the administrative quandaries—indeed, the nightmare of problems—that Government projects sometimes take on and their failing to produce the intended outcomes.
I modestly suggest that there is a way of pursuing those objectives, at least at the bottom end. In fact, there are probably two ways of providing direct action and support. The first is remittances. Expatriates of many African countries—and, I suspect, of elsewhere—send part of their hard-earned earnings directly back to the families they left behind. There is nothing wrong with that. Going as it does directly to the families in need, it is estimated to account for twice the value of our overseas aid budget. At some time in the future, we could perhaps consider the possibility of providing tax relief on such payments, although I acknowledge the difficulty of ensuring proper tax compliance.
The second and direct way of offering support is from community to community. Over the past eight years, I have been involved with the Hastings-Sierra Leone friendship link. If you would like to know more about it, Madam Deputy Speaker, you can look at www.hastingshastings.org.uk, but I will try to tell you a little about it in the remaining minutes.
First, we are not the only town in Britain to be involved in twinning projects. My hon. Friend the Member for Crosby was at the vanguard in her efforts to drive and support links between Crosby and Waterloo in Sierra Leone. Her motivational leadership—I was going to say that she chairs the committee, but my hon. Friend does not really chair anything; she motivates, harangues and ensures that things happen—helped to achieve that. That is a practical example of what can happen. I believe that a £1 million library is being built, but school libraries are already in place and 250,000 books have been delivered, all aiding and supporting the education of young people in that town.
I would like to say a little more about our twinning experience in Hastings, how it came about and what it has made possible. I hope that the Government will feel able to encourage more such links, as they really work. Back in 2001, following the end of the civil war in Sierra Leone, I had cause to be in the lift—a very slow lift—just by the Dining Room with my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Kilfoyle), who was a Defence Minister at the time. He told me he had just come back from Hastings, Sierra Leone, and the town was in a terrible mess; he asked whether we could do something about it. It so happened that, some months previously, the then British high commissioner, Sir Peter Penfold, had suggested that members of the peacekeeping forces contact UK towns with the same message—namely, that they should try to contact towns of a similar name in Sierra Leone and see what could be done.
Such a message came to Hastings via a young officer known as Wayne Addy, a young man from nearby Sedlescombe. Nothing happened at that time, but when it was added to by the entreaty of my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Walton, it fell on ready ears. I approached Dr. John Geater, chairman of the local Christian charity, LOAF. LOAF Project had recently built a school in Rwanda and an orphanage in Romania, so it had experience in developing countries. LOAF adopted Hastings, Sierra Leone, as its 2001 project and enlisted the support of local engineer Derek Tomblin, who in the years since has been superb in offering his expertise and enthusiasm to the cause. Derek travelled to Sierra Leone and identified some 13 bridges that needed total rebuilding, restoring or upgrading. LOAF appealed to the Hastings and St. Leonards community—schools, churches, businesses and so forth—to sponsor a bridge; and a generous community responded.
A group calling itself the Hastings-Sierra Leone Friendship Link was then organised to ensure continuity when LOAF moved on to another project. Within three years those bridges were built, assisting the locals of Hastings Sierra Leone to move more freely around the district, to travel into Freetown and to rebuild the devastation that the civil war had caused. While the idea was that of Derek Tomblin and the plans came from him, the building was done by local labour: that was what was so important. Derek Tomblin and all those involved, however, were not content with simply a one-off project; they wanted a long-term relationship—a reciprocal relationship whereby Hastings UK could learn as well as give.
We discovered an ex-pat Sierra Leone group in London, known as the Sierra Leone-Hastings Association UK. The leading lights of that organisation, Yvonne Johnson and Yvette John, were more than ready to come to Hastings UK and over the years that followed, we have regularly enjoyed community events with African music and food in our parks and in our community centres. It has been fun, but it has also enabled us not just to pay for those 13 bridges but to proceed with a major project to build a community resource centre. The centre, designed by Derek Tomblin with local input, is now virtually complete, and should be operational by the end of the year.
Most important, in 2006, Hastings Borough Council, under the then Labour leadership of Councillor Jeremy Birch—who is now the chair of the Sierra Leone friendship link—decided to pursue the idea of a formal twinning with its namesake in Sierra Leone. We have a number of other twins in Europe. This will be very different, but the commitment was absolute. Although political control of the town changed subsequently, the whole-town understanding was maintained. The new leader of what was now a Conservative council, Councillor Peter Pragnell—along with the deputy mayor, Eve Martin, and with the support of the mayor, Maureen Charlesworth—took part in the formal twinning ceremony on 14 February 2007 in Sierra Leone, which I was happy to attend.
This has become a genuine all-party project including people across the political spectrum. For example, the Liberal Democrats’ Paul Smith was also involved. The formal twinning gives status and structure to the arrangement, but it is the day-to-day work under the wise guidance of Robin Gray, secretary of the Friendship Link, that has enabled us to make a difference. Indeed, the social interaction between the two towns has been almost as important as the direct financial aid. For example, Roger Mitchell and his wife Margaret have been very much involved in linking schools. Seven of our Hastings schools are now linked with seven schools in Hastings, Sierra Leone. Recently, Chris Lacey of Helenswood school handed over a cheque for £6,098. That money was raised by the young people as a contribution to the cost of providing a community nurse in Hastings Sierra Leone. Of course, every penny will be spent for that purpose.
Another fine example is the twinning of Christ Church School—I stress that it is a Church of England school—with Kankaylay Islamic school in Hastings, Sierra Leone. Although Christ Church is a Christian school, when it learnt that about £11,000 was needed to buy land and rebuild Kankaylay—a lot can be done for £11,000 in Sierra Leone—that Christian organisation set about raising the money. It has already raised about half of it, the land has been bought, and over the coming months Christ Church School will seek to raise the building costs.
Arrangements of that kind will work because of the involvement of local people. It is not organisational and it does not require Government intervention, although Government support would be very helpful. What matters is the existence of an organisation that is “grass roots” in the obvious way that I have described. Anne Hanney, head teacher of that school in St Leonards, was part of the original twinning party. She recently arranged for a further group from Christ Church School to visit Sierra Leone with the support of the Creative Partnership project. Three members of her staff—Anne Sapolyo, Rose Pelling and Tania Kavanagh—were involved in a week of activities at the Islamic school, teaching and learning not just lessons but games, and bringing back ideas, which are now being used successfully at Christ Church. That is a fine illustration of the fact that the link can work in both directions.
The school links have been fun as well. I recall that at the time of the twinning Veriko Scrivener, a teacher from Elphinstone School in Hastings, composed a song called “I Love Hastings” . It was amazing to see all the little African children from Hastings Sierra Leone singing in unison, joined by Hastings school children.
I could have described much more if I had had time to do so. Conquest Hospital in Hastings has been sending surplus medical supplies. Gary Walsh of the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service not only went to Hastings, but has since been offering training opportunities and advice to its Sierra Leone counterpart. The police have formed a link, as have churches.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: Will my hon. Friend say a few words about the benefit of the twinning to citizenship, and about the growing understanding of faiths between the two communities?
Michael Jabez Foster: It is right that in Hastings, Sierra Leone, and Sierra Leone generally, there is a two-faith society, Christian and Muslim. What impressed me was that, in all their public affairs, both the Muslims and the Christians are part of the show. I asked why it  was that they get on so well, and a Roman Catholic priest made it clear that it was down to respect. That might be something we can learn from.
This face-to-face, town-to-town, school-to-school contact is so different from putting money in a box, and as I said at the beginning, every pound raised goes to the purpose, and it goes with love. It so happens that Hastings UK is one of the poorest towns in Britain—indeed, it is among the 30 poorest—and thus we appreciate that the cash we can offer will always be limited. But as Mr. Kamara, the head teacher of the Kankaylay Islamic school, said on the recent visit,
“no help is too small to make an impact on rebuilding hope”.
We certainly hope that our small contribution will make a difference to our fellow world citizens in Hastings, Sierra Leone, and I commend the twinning concept to all.
If anyone feels enthused to join in the celebration, we in Hastings UK can offer barn dances, and on 4 July there will be a town-wide sing-song in Alexandra Park, to which all are welcome.

This year’s Quiz was a great success. 28 teams battled it out on Friday 19th February at the Civil Service Sports Club. Once again, the winners were the famous Runners & Non-Runners. Jeremy Birch was our super-efficient quizmaster, and Derek Tomblin ran a superb laser display board, putting up the answers and scores as we went along.We raised over £1000 on the quiz itself and the raffle, another £100 from a Michael Yardy Sussex team shirt, and over £230 from this year’s orange cryptic quiz sheet. Thanks to all our sponsors, especially Kiley’s Karpets. If you couldn’t get to the quiz, or if you were there and want to have another look at the questions and answers, here they are:

ROUND 1: POT LUCK

1. Which New Testament book tells us ‘…there is more happiness in giving than             receiving…’?

2. Which religious group is known as the ‘Society of Friends’?

3. What is the name of Napoleon’s horse which he rode at Waterloo and which is                buried at Cranbrook?

4. What are ‘Golden Acre’, ‘Derby Day’ and ‘Greyhound’ types of?

5. Which hit record (title & group’s name) plays out ‘Sounds of the Sixties’ each             Saturday morning on Radio Two at 10 o’clock?

6. How many miles is it from Land’s End to John o’ Groats? (a) 765 (b) 876 (c) 987

7. The last three WWI surviving veterans died in 2009. They were Bill Stone,

Henry Allingham and … who was the third?

8. Which vowel does not appear on the top row of a computer keyboard in the UK?

9. The sinking of which vessel was instrumental in the USA entering WWI?

10. What did the Ancient Greeks use a clepsydra for?

Answers:             1 Acts of the Apostles   / just ‘Acts’

2 The Quakers

3 Jaffa

4 Cabbages

5 Foot Tapper (1 point) by The Shadows (1 point)

6 (b) 876

7 Henry or ‘Harry’ (1)  Patch (1)

8 A

9 The Lusitania

10 To measure time/ to tell the time [it was a water-clock]

ROUND 2: LOCAL FACTS

1. In which street or road is Hastings History House?

2. Which river does Lewes stand on?

3. Which philanthropist bought Bodiam Castle for £3000 in 1829, to save it from             demolition?

4. There are two reservoirs in Alexandra Park. One is Buck’s Hole. What is the name             of the other one?

5. Which famous person lived in Exmouth Place, Hoads Wood Road and St Helens Park             Road at different times in his or her life?

6. Where would you find RX53 Dorothy Melinda?

7. Which famous cricketer scored 143 at the Central Cricket Ground before being             caught             by F.G. Mann off T. Bailey? A plaque to this effect can be seen in Priory             Meadow.

8. Who was Robert de Mortain?

9. Licensed in 1829, which is St Leonards’ oldest pub?

10. Which number in the series will this year’s Hastings Half Marathon be?

Answers

1 Courthouse Street

2 The Ouse

3 Jack Fuller / ‘Mad’ Jack Fuller / John Fuller

4 Shornden

5 Catherine Cookson

6 In front of Hastings Station

7 Don Bradman

8 A Norman baron/ one of William the Conqueror’s barons / William’s half-brother

9 The Horse & Groom   [in Mercatoria]

10  Nº 26

ROUND 3: People’s names given to everyday objects (like ‘hoover’ or ‘Gladstone bag’).

1. A biscuit named after an Italian political hero.

2. A firework named after a martyred saint.

3. An item of clothing named after a general involved in the Crimean War.

4. A two-wheeled conveyance that Sherlock Holmes often took.

5. A dessert named after a famous Russian artiste.

6. A safety jacket named after a film star.

7. A children’s toy named after an American president.

8. An item of street-furniture named after a British Minister of Transport in the 1930’s.

9. A Roman emperor who gave his name to French street urinals in more modern             times.

10. A unit of electrical resistance. Is it ohm, ampere, volt or watt?

Answers

1 garibaldi

2 Catherine wheel

3 cardigan

4 hansom cab

5 pavlova

6 Mae West

7 teddy  / teddy bear   [after Roosevelt]

8 Belisha beacon

9 Vespasian   [French street urinals were ‘vespasiennes’]

10 ohm

ROUND 4:  INITIALS & ACRONYMS

1. What do P G Wodehouse’s first two initials stand for?

2. What do the letters TT stand for, in the motor-cycle event called the Isle of Man TT Races?

3.What is the VPL that fashion-conscious girls might worry about?

4. What did the E stand for in UNICEF?

5. On a foreign vehicle’s registration plate, where would it be from if it bore the letters SLO?

6. A business letter is sometimes signed by one person  ‘pp’ somebody else. What two words does ‘pp’ stand for?

7. Which 3-letter acronym stands for the common anti-tuberculosis inoculation?

8. Our old money, pounds- shillings-and-pence,  used to be referred to as ‘LSD’.              What did the D stand for?

9. What do the letters KBE stand for after a person’s name?

10. What letter is,  or letters are, the abbreviation for the element tungsten in the periodic             table?

Answers

1 Pelham Grenville  (1 + 1)

2 Tourist Trophy (1 + 1)

3 Visible (1) Panty Line (1)

4 Emergency

5 Slovenia

6 per pro (1 + 1)

7 BCG   [bacillus Calmette-Guérin]

8 denarius or denarii

9 Knight Commander (1 point) of the British Empire  (1 point)

10 W  [it used to be called wolfram]

ROUND 5: LONDON AND PARIS

1. What is the post code for Buckingham Palace?

2. When was the Great Fire of London?

3. Which firm sponsored the London Eye?

4. If I’m travelling by Underground from Finchley Road to Green Park, which line             am I on?

5.  Which year was the first Clean Air Act which ended the famous London

‘pea-souper’ fogs?

6. On which bank of the Seine is the Latin Quarter – left or right?

7. What is the Paris equivalent of our Underground?

8. How much does the Eiffel Tower weigh, roughly: (a) 7,000 tons, (b) 17,000 tons,             (c) 70,000 tons (d) nobody knows.

9. Why do Parisians keep an eye on the zouave, the statue of a soldier by the Pont de l’Alma?

10. What does London have which is very similar to what Paris calls the “Obélisque”?

Answers

1  SW1A 1AA    (SW1A = 1 point,  1AA = 1 point)

2  1666

3  British Airways

4  Jubilee line

5  1956

6  left

7  Métro

8  (a) 7,000 tons

9  To see the water level / the height of the River Seine

10 Cleopatra’s Needle.

Round 6:  SPORT

1. Who is the current holder of the BBC Sports Personality award?
2. In cricket, how many runs are scored when the ball hits a helmet

left on the ground by the fielding team?

1. Who, in professional boxing, is known as ‘The Cobra’?
2. Which golf course hosts the ‘U S Masters’?
3. What is the current 100m world record set by Usain Bolt set in 2009?
4. Which member of a netball team has the letters WA on her bib?
5. Which boxer used to enter the ring to Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best’?
6. Which sport was originally called ‘MINTONETTE’ ?
7. Which was the first team to score 7 goals in one English Premiership

league game?

10. Which  British town houses The National Museum of Football?
Answers:
1. RYAN (1) GIGGS (1)

2. 5

3. CARL FROCH  (Carl = 1, Foch = 1)

4. AUGUSTA

5. 9.58 secs

6. WING (1)  ATTACK (1)

7. CHRIS (1) EUBANK (1)

8. VOLLEY BALL

9. BLACKBURN      [Oct '92  Score: Blackburn7  Norwich 1]

10. PRESTON

ROUND 7: Spelling bee

What are the English spellings of these words?  [Well, this was read out loud, after all - contestants didn't see this!]

1. cappuccino

2. vacuum

3. dysfunctional

4. diarrhoea

5. rhythm

6. sinecure

7. rheumatism

8. desiccated

9. abscess

10. onomatopoeia

ROUND 8: THE EUROPEAN UNION

1. The founder members of the forerunner of the EU, the EEC,  in 1957 were France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands and….  Which country was the 6^th member?

2. Which national symbol appears on the euro coins of the Republic of Ireland?

3. How many different denominations of euro coins are there?

4. How many stars are there now on the EU flag?

5. What is the capital of Estonia?

6. Which EU country hosted the Euro 2004 football tournament?

7. Which is the smallest country in the EU?

8. What is the speed limit on German motorways?

9. Which EU country is the home of Nokia phones?

10. In which town is the European Court of Human Rights?

Answers

1 Luxembourg

2 a harp

3 eight  [1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, 1 euro and 2 euros]

4 twelve  [the number doesn’t change, however many states join the EU]

5 TALLINN  (1 point if misspelt)

6 Portugal

7 Malta  [only about 300 square km]

8 There isn’t one*

9 Finland

10 Strasbourg  (The Hague has the International Court of Human Rights)

* This was disputed. The official, not very clear, answer is: Although the autobahns in Germany are not subject to an overall speed limit (the blue speed limit signs, usually showing 130, are suggested maximum speeds), many stretches of autobahn are covered by signed speed limits, which are mostly closely observed by the Germans.

ROUND 9: WORLD WAR II

1. Field Marshal Montgomery commanded the Eighth Army in Africa and Europe.             What was his first name?

2. What was the name of the most decorated American soldier of World War II who later             became a film star?

3. Operation Chastise was carried out by the RAF on the 17^th May 1943 and             probably turned the course of the war. What is this sortie much better known as?

4. What colloquial 9-letter name did the British population give to the Fieseler Fi 103             or “Retaliation Weapon 1’” ?

5. What sort of vehicle was a Horsa, used during the D-Day Landings?

6. What is the literal translation of ‘kamikaze’,  the suicidal manœuvre performed by             Japanese pilots?

7. The future political shape of Europe was negotiated in February 1945 by Stalin,             Roosevelt and Churchill at a conference somewhere in the             Crimea. In which             town did it take place?

8. Florence Nightingale Graham was a Canadian business woman whose cosmetics             firm produced black face cream as camouflage on night missions. Under what             name did she trade?

9. Which English football ground was used as a prisoner-of-war camp until May 1945?

10. Which English mathematician spent part of his childhood in Hastings and did             important work during the war at Bletchley Park on which the Enigma code-            breaking machine was based?

Answers

1 Bernard

2 Audie Murphy            (1 + 1)

3 The Dambusters Raid  / The Dambusters

4 doodlebug

5 a glider

6 ‘divine wind’  (1 + 1)

7 Yalta

8 Elizabeth Arden       (1 + 1)

9 Swindon Town

10 Alan Turing           (1 + 1)

ROUND 10: FOOD- NUTRITION- SCIENCE

1. Which is the only metal that is liquid in form at room temperature?

2. Which gas freezes to form ‘Dry Ice’?

3. Which planet has 2 moons known as Deimos & Phobos?

4. Which famous product did the Baron von Liebig, a Victorian chemist, develop from the yeast left over from brewing beer?

5. On the pH scale, is pH 7  acid, alakaline or neutral?

6. A form of ascorbic acid is an essential part of our diet. What is it usually known as?

7. What accompanies bacon in the dish angels-on-horseback?

8. Is the condition called “Sydenham’s chorea” better known as (a) epilepsy (b) club             foot or (c) St Vitus’ Dance ?

9. Gold can be dissolved by (a) nothing at all (b) Coca cola (c) a mixture of nitric and             hydrochloric acids

10. If you ordered kip in The Netherlands or pollo in Italy, what would you be  served?

Answers

1 mercury

2 carbon dioxide  (must be all correct for 2 marks)

3 Mars

4 Marmite

5 neutral

6 vitamin C

7 oysters

8 (c) St Vitus’ Dance

9 (c) a mixture of nitric & hydrochloric acids  [called ‘aqua regia’]

10 chicken

“The Show” – Thursday 22nd October

Once again, many Hastings schools came together to put on an amazing evening’s entertainment at the White Rock Theatre, in aid of Demelza (the local charity which supports very sick children) and the Hastings SL Friendship Link. Our thanks to all those who took part – both on stage and behind the scenes. At the time of writing, we don’t know exactly how much was raised, from the takings on the door and a bucket collection afterwards. Whatever was raised will be divided equally between the two charities. The money given to the Link will be ring-fenced for healthcare work with children in Hastings Sierra Leone.

Second Annual Soccer Event Celebrates our Twinning with Hastings Sierra Leone in Style

Eight of our primary schools in Hastings and St Leonards celebrated their links with schools in Hastings Sierra Leone on Friday 10 July with the second annual 7-a-side soccer tournament.

The tournament was held at Filsham Valley School, being the secondary school in the Borough with links to a secondary school in Sierra Leone. The afternoon was bright and breezy in every way and the floods of two days before had drained away leaving the ground pleasantly soft.

The event was brilliantly hosted and organised by Teresa Bennett, Filsham Valley School’s Sports Coordinator and by Dave Amiet, Community Project Manager with the County’s Fire and Rescue Services.

Each team was allocated a trainer for the afternoon and all the match officials were either students at Filsham Valley or members of the Fire and Rescue Services.

Schools entered teams of boys and of girls. The boys’ tournament was organised on a two-pool basis with play-offs to decide the final winners.  In Pool A, Blacklands were the clear winners with the second place having to be decided on goal difference between Sandown and St Leonards. The winner of Pool B was hotly contested between Little Ridge and St Mary Star of the Sea. The former just edged ahead on goal difference. In the play-off final Little Ridge emerged victorious for the second year running. As there were fewer girls’ teams their event was played on an all-play-all basis and here again the winning margin was narrow. St Mary Star of the Sea with 17 points ended just clear of Elphinstone with 15 points. Other teams of boys’ and girls’ battling it out though the afternoon were from Christ Church, Robsack Wood and Sandown.

Filsham Valley students provided English-style refreshments while Sierra Leonean friends from London brought with them a selection of African delicacies.

The Mayor, Cllr Maureen Charlesworth, opened the afternoon’s events and we were greatly honoured that the High Sheriff of the County, Mr Bill Shelford, made the presentations of medals and trophies.

Every participant received a ‘silver’ medal with the Sierra Leonean flag embossed upon it while the winning teams received similar medals in ‘gold’. The winning schools also received a shield to hold for a year until next year’s tournament. Medals and shields were again generously donated by a good Friend of the Hastings SL Link.

PLEASE NOTE that the date for the 2010 Seven-a-side tournament at Filsham Valley School is Friday July 16th.

2008

Friday 9th May Ernie and Stella organised a terrific Barn Dance in the Civil Service Sports Club. Music was provided brilliantly by the Catsfield Steamers, and their caller did a great job keeping us all moving fast and (more or less) in order. Yvette & Yvonne came down with a party of 7 from London.  Everyone enjoyed the Ploughman’s supper, which was particularly imaginative.The Raffle raised an amazing £110 (thanks to everyone who donated prizes!), and over all we cleared £388 profit. If you missed the dance, there’ll be another, even bigger, one at the Phoenix Arts Centre on November 8th. Make a note in your diary!

Friday 8th Feb. We ran a Quiz Night in the White Rock Theatre, by kind permission of Live Nation.  Nola McSweeney begged enough food from generous local shops to provide a Ploughman’s Supper for 150 people (prepared by Nola, Pat Botley and their band of stalwarts). Jeremy Birch acted as jovial quizmaster, Jim McSweeney did the maths, Kylie’s Carpets kindly provided bottles of wine as prizes, a good time was had by all – and we cleared £702 profit!  Look out for the next quiz night!

2007

This was our 2007 Christmas card

Working together with Michael Foster, the Link produced a great Christmas card which was really a charity card with a difference. Thanks to Michael’s generosity, for every pack of 10 cards sold for £3.50, at least £2 went straight to the building project to ‘put the heart back into Hastings SL’. We’ll post exactly how much was raised through the cards, once we’ve finished doing the sums.

Saturday 20th October

The Link staged an exhibition in Priory Meadow shopping mall from 9.30 to 5.30. The display boards covered themes like the background to the twinning, daily life in Hastings SL, health, education (with work from at least 4 local schools), the community resource building and the emergency services. Priory Meadow echoed to the sound of African music, as we played the new DVD of the Blind School Choir’s concert – on superb equipment generously loaned to us by Graham Dawson of Showman AV Ltd. The Mayor, Cllrs Eve Martin, Peter Pragnell and Jeremy Birch and MP Michael Foster all turned out to help us talk about the Link’s work, and members of the public ’sponsored a brick’ to the tune of over £300.

Saturday 1st September
Fire Service Marathon Ladder Carry

Hastings Town Centre looked like the scene of a full-blown emergency on Saturday – but in fact the teams of firefighters and support staff had come with their tenders to talk to the public about their work, and to raise money for two local charities. Red Watch, from the Bohemia Road Fire Station, gave advice on fire safety in the home and demonstrated how they free people from crashed vehicles using cutting equipment, while dozens of children had their photos taken in full firefighter gear. Meanwhile, a team carried a heavy ladder from Rock-a-Nore to the old Bathing Pool and back – 5 times, or a distance of 26 miles, in about 8 hours. A generous public put £2924 into the orange buckets of the Fire Service staff and members of the Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship Link, and the money will be divided between the Link’s work in our namesake West African twin and the Kipling Ward at the Conquest.

Friday 3rd August
The Sierra Leone Blind School Choir concert was a huge success. The following account appeared, slightly shortened, in the Hastings Observer:

Deeply moved, the whole audience of 400 people gave a 10-minute standing ovation and clapped their appreciation to the rhythm of traditional folk and gospel songs, as the 25-strong choir from the Milton Margai Blind School danced off the stage at the end of an amazing performance at St Mary-in-the-Castle on Friday.

The choristers, drummers and percussionists, assisted by composer Alie Conteh on the keyboard, thrilled everyone present with their 100-minute programme, entitled “Sing Freetown”, telling the history of Sierra Leone, from the abolition of slavery and the founding of Freetown, through the crown colony’s independence in 1961, to the devastating 11-year rebel war, the restoration of peace and democracy and the children’s hopes for a better future. The music mixed traditional West African songs and hymns, specially composed items, drums and dance, the whole pacy programme being structured by the delightful voices of young narrators Joanna Davies and Osman Kamara, who conveyed in just a few words the story of Sierra Leone’s journey to democracy, and the young people’s pride in their country. At times it was easy to forget that singers and musicians were all blind, or nearly so, as they moved around the stage, dancing rhythmically and keeping perfect time.

The youngsters had spent the afternoon in Hastings, enjoying the sunshine on the beach and the rides at the Flamingo Park fun-fair, before going off to Blacklands Church where they were delighted to find that the Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship Link’s ex-pat friends had provided a delicious meal of food familiar to them, including their favourite cassava leaf soup. The Link members who looked after the choristers in the afternoon were deeply impressed with their dignity, the way they helped each other the whole time and their refusal to let their blindness stop them having fun. One of the boys said: “We’re learning so much about Britain and life, it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to come here.”

The concert was part of the second UK tour organised by the charity which supports the Blind School, and which is chaired by former British High Commissioner Sir Peter Penfold, who is also Patron of the Link. Sir Peter thanked Hastings for inviting the choir down and for looking after them so well, and spoke briefly about his association and the School’s needs. Jeremy Birch, vice-chair of the Friendship Link, expressed everyone’s admiration for the choir’s talent and zest for living. The audience clearly agreed: a bucket-collection realised an incredible £750, bringing the total raised by the event to around £3,000. The money will be shared equally by the two charities.

Derek Tomblin, chairman of the Link, said: “It was a thrilling yet humbling experience to witness the vitality and optimism of these young people in spite of all the disadvantages they have to face. I’d like to thank everyone who came along and gave so generously, Hastings Borough Council for its tremendous support, and Glenn and Cathy Khan and the whole Sonrise Church team, who beavered away all week to get St Mary-in-the-Castle ready in time and provided a very professional team of stewards to ensure the evening ran smoothly. It was wonderful that the very first event in the ‘new’ St Mary-in-the-Castle was such an inspiring concert that sent us out into the night, glad to be alive.”

Anyone who would like to support either the Link or the choir can get more information on-line at www.hastingshastings.org.uk or www.miltonmargaischool.org, or contact Robin Gray on 436603.

Monday 7th May
The LOAF walk was a great success this year. The weather was kinder to us than last year. Many thanks to all those who walked, who sponsored walkers, or who helped with the organisation. So far, over £8388 has come in, and there’s more to come. If you’re sitting on sponsor money, please let Christine Lane at LOAF have it as soon as you can! We need it urgently in order to go on paying our bills as the Community Resource Building takes shape

Saturday 24th March
A Dinner Dance was held at the Phoenix Arts Centre in Parkstone Road, Hastings with music by King Mascoe and amazing West African food by Yvonne John and her team.