PART B: Points mean prizes? You must work out the theme of this section for yourself. They all contain a point of the compass
1. Mr Prunella Scales (7,4) Timothy West
2. Parker & Stone’s satirical animated sitcom (5,4) South Park
3. Useful for keeping your head dry (9 + an apostrophe) sou’wester
4. Jane put fury at the heart of this novel (10, 5) Northanger Abbey
5. Resort on the Blyth (9) Southwold
6. Dendrologists’s delight in Gloucestershire (10,9) Westonbirt Arboretum
7. In which Cary Grant was strafed by a crop duster (5,2,5-4) North by North-West
8. Tom Brown’s best friend (5,4) Harry East
9. The only British place-name that boasts an exclamation mark (8,2) Westward Ho!
10. Where Erich said all was quiet (2,3,7,5) On the Western Front
11. Where Polly, Rob, Kaddy et al keep us informed (5,4,5) South East Today
12. Gateshead’s guardian (3,5,2,3,5) The Angel of the North
13. Crux, to a star-struck Australian (8,5) Southern Cross
14. America’s answer to Sandhurst (4,5) West Point
15. Where it’s said there’s nothing like a dame (5,7) South Pacific

PART C: HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW OUR TOWN?
1. How many town councillors are there altogether? 32
2. Which church was founded by the poet Coventry Patmore? St Mary Star-of-the-Sea
3. Which mathematician links St Leonards with Enigma? Alan Turing
4. Which fraud (related to Carrie and Ada ) appeared to packed houses at the White Rock Theatre? Grey Owl / Archie Belaney
5. Which fisherman’s death sparked a riot in the Old Town that lasted for days?
Joseph Swain
6. In which room is there a roll of the names of local figures, starting in 1588?
The Council Chamber
7. What’s the connection between the Dawn & Dorset Laundry and the Albert Memorial?
They were both destroyed by fire.
8. Who came to the Hastings Workhouse as Head Laundress in 1930?
Catherine Cookson
9. Who was the first Etonian to gain a master’s certificate which he put to good use on the “Sunbeam”? Lord Brassey / Thomas Brassey
10. What must you be wearing, to win Peter Trickett’s walking stick? Seaboots

PART D: FOOTBALL TEAMS. Which teams are these?
1. You wouldn’t want these nomads at your door, in short (6) Wolves
2. Where witches attempt to score (8) Coventry
3. They used to play at Gay Meadow (10) Shrewsbury
4. A Scottish club that was named after an English rugby team (7) Rangers
5. What do they use in the way of toiletry? None! (anagram) (6,6) Leyton Orient
6. They should play explosive football! (7) Arsenal
7. Its players might rue mouthiness (anagram) (13) Stenhousemuir
8. Do they only play mid-week? (9,9) Sheffield Wednesday
9. They should have good parenting skills (10) Motherwell
10. Their nickname recalls Del and Rodney (6,9) Bolton Wanderers (aka The Trotters)

PART E: A RIDDLE. Why did a mother (who loved puns, the more the better) advise her 3 lads to name their new beef ranch “Focus”? ‘focus’ is where the sun’s rays meet (the sons raise meat)

Present: Melanie Bray, Diane Reed, Michael Tucker, Yvonne John, Yvette Johnson, Jo Palmer, Nigel Sinden, Cllr Peter Pragnell (chair), John Geater, Christine Boulton-Lane, Ernie Grice, Mat McDonnell, Ray Keene, Eileen & Bill Evans, Edwin Rue, Paul Cabban, Derek Tomblin, Nola McSweeney, Roger Mitchell, Stuart Anderson, Robin Gray (minutes).

1 Apologies: Stella Underhill, Cllr Kim Forward, Cllr Jeremy Birch, Michael Foster.

2. Minutes of the meeting of 9th November 2011. These were accepted as a fair record, with a small correction to the wording, provided by John. Matters arising: §2: Robin confirmed that the Trustees’ details are now all entered on the Charity Commission website. Other matters were taken as they arose in the course of the meeting.

3. Finance: (a) Treasurer’s Report. Ray presented his report of income and expenditure since the last meeting. We have taken £2643 from calendars so far, with an estimated £950 to come. Ray estimates we should make about £1800 profit on the venture. Two major donations have been one of £1000 from the Church of the Good Shepherd, Collier Row, and one of £500 from Rainer Hermes. (Robin has written to thank both donors.) Most of the money is in from those self-funding themselves on the February trip. (HBC is funding Yvonne’s air-fare and accommodation through the CLGF grant.) John reported that his Residents’ Association had kindly raised £150 for us, by singing carols. It was agreed that he should hand the money directly to Melanie Bray, who is going out in February, and she will pass it on and get a receipt. Nola reported that the sale of this year’s Orange Quiz Sheet has realized £585.
Derek asked if there was any objection to his utilizing one of the paid-for trips-for-the-engineer provided for under the terms of the original BHC grant. There was no objection, of course, to this very proper use of the grant. Christine asked that it be noted that the barn dance, which raised £192.06 in spite of not being well attended, was in fact an event organized by LOAF on our behalf.
(b) Sending a container to SL. This item was held over from AOB in December. We had been offered some redundant office furniture by HBC. Should we accept the offer and be prepared to fund shipping the furniture out? Mat argued that it might be far better to save shipping costs and encourage SL woodworkers to produce it locally. This argument was accepted by the meeting. Derek and Ray to arrange to see the HBC furniture, to ascertain whether it really is quality stuff that couldn’t be produced in SL, and actually needed in the TTC. We’ll make a decision in the light of that.

4. Schools Report including February trip. Roger reported that the International Pupil Council is up and running, and meets for the second time on Jan 18th. The primary schools and St Leonards Academy are all represented.
For the teacher side of the visit, 9 primary school staff are participating: 3 from St Leonards CofE (1 on a British Council grant, 2 self-funding); 3 from Blacklands all self-funding; and 3 from St Paul’s (1 BC grant, 2 self-funding). Gabrielle Bourn (self-funding) from South Coast College Hastings is going to look into establishing a link with the college at Kissy; Melanie Bray, a mental health practitioner, is self-funding and will look at health issues, including mental health; and Richard Homewood from HBC and Kevin Monson from Somerset are returning on CLGF funding, to continue with advising on waste management, recycling and making gas from natural resources. Most of the schools are now linked into the recycling project. The group is completed by Roger, Derek and Yvonne. Derek will tie in with Richard Homewood and Kevin Monson, but will work on planning the health centre improvements in particular, the Olympics bid, the nursing situation, the snagging list for the TTC and the furniture question.
It was agreed that Roger would provide some basic facts about the trip to Peter, who would draw up a press release before the event, submitting it to the Observer by Tuesday 31st January. It is hoped the Observer will cover the trip in detail once the travellers return. As far as the second leg of the exchange goes, in May/June, only one school has committed itself to raising funds for a Sierra Leonean teacher, so it is likely that there will only be 4 in the group, including Francis Mason.
Derek asked if Roger had been able to make any progress with the idea of a half-day conference on funding, but Roger has had no response yet from the schools, and no reply on funding from Amber Rudd MP or from Andrew Mitchell (DfID).

5. Report on the SL Olympics team training in Hastings. Michael Foster had sent an update. He has at last heard from the Chairman of the SL Olympic Organising Committee who says they welcome our offer to provide accommodation and training facilities in the week before the Olympic Village opens, but they do not yet know if any of their athletes will qualify. It seems likely that the numbers would be small, in any case. The meeting agreed that we would have to wait and see – though we should be thinking about lining up possible local sponsors (as it had been established that it would not be appropriate to use the Link’s funds to pay for the SL Olympics team’s expenses) and be prepared for the fact that any athletes will be accompanied by a number of officials.. It seems that local schools will be able to turn out to cheer on the Olympic torch as it is carried through Hastings. Nigel wondered if it might not be an opportunity to have more Link t-shirts made, in children’s sizes. No decision was made.

6. Update on Mat McDonnell’s film & photographic work. Mat reported that he is a little behind with what he had hoped to achieve by now. He is currently working on an appeals video for SL boxing; and on footage he shot at Huntingdon School which he’ll be showing at St Leonards Academy. It was suggested it might go out with Roger’s group and be shown in Hastings SL. Mat has gallery space available to him in March, and hopes to show some ‘This is Hastings’ footage then. Eventually this piece can be used as an awareness raising tool wherever we wish. Derek asked if something might be ready for showing at the Quiz Night on February 24th; and Robin suggested showing Mat’s work at the AGM. Mat was happy with these suggestions.
Since Mat was present and had already made some very useful observations about the TTC, Yvette took the opportunity to report on the latest ideas. Mrs Allen, the manageress of the 5/10 Hotel and now semi-retired, is prepared to manage the accommodation at the TTC – without a fee initially. She would no doubt make something for herself, and pay a contribution to the village funds. Mat insisted that the village community must take ownership of the TTC. Yvette wanted travellers from Hastings to be encouraged to use the accommodation. Mat thought we should be encouraging a wider clientele: back-packers, say, or gap year students. Once we had thought it out properly, it could be offered on the website. Why weren’t the teachers using the TTC in February? Roger explained that there is no air-conditioning yet, the teachers have never been to SL, and will have to put in a full week’s work. The TTC is very basic and could not house them all, and there are logistical benefits in having them all together in a simple hotel. Yvette would like to see them using the TTC for some daytime meetings, if possible.
Derek reported that he has been sent an estimate for £14k for a security wall around the TTC. We do not have that kind of money available. Yvonne said it had been made clear to the village that they should construct the wall as a self-build project: again, that would reinforce the sense of communal ownership.

7. Health Centre Working Party. No meeting has been convened as yet. It was agreed that it is actually difficult for Cllr Eve Martin to act as convenor, as she doesn’t have a reliable email system. Christine kindly offered to take on that role, with Eve chairing the meetings, and members thought this a good solution. Melanie agreed to join the group, to bring mental health expertise. Christine has met an experienced midwife at the Conquest who seems willing to spend some time in SL, and she will invite this lady, too, to join the group.
Edwin observed that, looking at the health centre manager’s wish-list, a lot of the equipment would probably have to be bought by us rather than just donated to us. John has acquired an old but serviceable obstetrics kit, which Derek will carry to SL in February. Mat observed that the maternity unit needs scales for weighing babies accurately. John reported that a group has been set up, meeting at Guy’s Hospital, for the advancement of public health in SL. John will get feedback from this group. It should be an excellent source of information, and of possible solutions to some of the issues facing us.

8. Events, fundraising etc.
(i) SCCH stand. Ernie reported that a small group had run a Link stand at the College’s Christmas Fair. They had sold a few calendars, notelets, quiz sheets etc, and Stella had run a ‘guess-the-number-of-sweets’ competition. They took £51, and felt it was a reasonably useful awareness-raising event.
(ii) Calendars. Robin reported that the calendars had been virtually sold out (just a very few remaining with him, and at Best Wishes in Kings Road, St Leonards). He would be chasing people who had taken calendars to sell, but who had not sent Ray all the money yet. The meeting thought the idea was worth repeating. Robin’s idea, at the moment, is for a calendar illustrating (with photos or artwork?) some of the various Hastings round the world. A calendar solely devoted to pictures of Hastings SL would not have the mass tourist appeal of this year’s calendar. (Our tourist office had sold some 240.)
(iii) Quiz sheets and the Quiz Night (24th Feb). Nola reported that the quiz sheet has been the most successful ever, perhaps because it was slightly easier this time. 35 tables have been booked for the quiz night at the Phœnix. She asked for help on the night (please contact her on 751295), and for raffle prizes. We need bottles of wine, in particular, as prizes for the winning teams. Again, promises to Nola, please. Nola herself thinks she should be able to get the now traditional Gareth Barry and Mike Yardy shirts. Ray asked about public liability. Nola will check with Chris Smith to see if the Phœnix’s own PL insurance will cover us.
Dane Jensen, of Kiley’s Karpets, who has always sponsored our quiz nights most generously, has asked if we could flag up that he is running the London Marathon to raise money for MS. We agreed that Derek will display a notice on the screen during the evening, Jeremy will mention it, and Dane can put flyers on all the tables, inviting people to contact him in order to sponsor him. We felt a bucket-collection at the door would be confusing, as we’d be having a collection of our own.
(iv) Thanksgiving. This event, to mark 5 years of Hastings-Hastings twinning, is additional to the September SL Thanksgiving event. Blacklands Church and church hall have been booked for the afternoon of Sunday 20th May. Yvette was confident that Rev. René Jarrett would conduct the service, and Rev. Ronnie Williams would preach. Paul and Yvette will liaise over the organist. Yvonne has once again kindly offered to provide a finger buffet. Yvette will work out a programme, and Roger will then liaise with the schools over their contributions. He is not confident that the second leg of the Exchange can be timed to coincide with this event.
(v) Further ideas for events, fundraising.
(a) Derek reported that he has committed us to providing a stand at the Unity Service in Holy Trinity Church on Sunday 22nd January. Bill and others to set up from 3pm.
(b) Nola had written to the ‘community champion’ at Asda, to ask if Asda would support the Link in 2012, but had had no reply. Peter said he would get Cllr Matthew Lock to follow this up.
(c) Ernie asked if we would consider reprinting the notelets. If they had not sold well, it was because they were produced on too thin a card. Robin thought we should look at updating the choice of photos, once the group had returned in February.
(d) John reminded us of the special LOAF Walk in May. People would be able to walk for 1, 2 or 3 days, as they wish: Canterbury to Ashford, Ashford to Rye, and Rye to Hastings. There will be the usual choice of distances on Bank Holiday Monday. We have had offers of church halls in Ashford and Rye if people wish to sleep over. John will send Robin the details to circulate. John Weston is looking into a cyclists’ version.
(e) Robin was asked to look into Vodaphone’s “Just Text Giving” scheme, by which people are encouraged (via an attractively produced card) to make an easy donation to a charity.

9. AOB. (a) Peter pointed out that under the Constitution he should be standing down as chair of the link at the next AGM. He urged everyone to consider if they could take the role on.
(b) Ian reported on a meeting he had had just before Christmas with the Mayor of Hastingues in SW France. Ian explained the origins of the village’s name. He had taken with him an encouraging letter from Jeremy Birch as Leader of the Council, and a document explaining the Link’s work in SL. The mayoral team in Hastingues is keen to get involved, though Ian has not quite managed to get anything from them in writing. However, he stressed how genuine the village’s interest is. Ian is confident that something really positive will come out of the link he is making. He expects to be able to write something up for our next meeting.
(c) Yvette reminded us that the traditional Valentine’s Day Buffet Dance would be taking place on Saturday 11th February at St Mary’s Banqueting Hall, London SE5. Details from Tunde Rahman on 07958 510245. Yvette also mentioned that the Hastings SL (UK) group has chosen to make Hastings the destination for its annual outing this year, on Sat 11th August. She will liaise with us about hiring a hall. The Carlisle was recommended.

10. Date of Next Meeting. PLEASE NOTE: Although we agreed to hold our next meeting on Wednesday 29th February, Robin has been advised by the Town Hall’s General Manager that that date is not possible. He has therefore agreed to Wednesday March 7th at 6.05 as usual. The Committee Room allocated to us will be displayed on the TV notice-board in the foyer.

The meeting closed at 8.05.

Robin Gray
01424 436603
secretary.hslfl@gmail.com

In the four years that this contest has been staged there has never been a climax to compare with the boys’ final this year. After the preliminary Group matches Little Ridge A and St Paul’s battled it out for top place. The football was of an outstandingly high quality – no kick and rush here. Sensible man-to-man marking and skilful running and passing, coupled with brilliant goal-keeping, provided an attractive and hard-fought game and a 0-0 scoreline. Extra time produced no deciding goal and with the score still at 0-0 it was five penalties each. Several minutes of nail-biting for supporters found the score at 3-3. So a sudden death finale it had to be. Little Ridge emerged triumphant and the crowd felt huge sympathy for St Paul’s who had fought so valiantly and lost by little more than chance.

In the girl’s tournament Blacklands overcame all their opponents to claim the crown for the second year running. The girls from St Mary Star of the Sea were runners-up.

Other schools taking part were St Leonards, Christ Church and Elphinstone.

As in previous years the tournament was organised with enthusiasm and skill by Teresa Bennett and colleagues from Filsham Valley School, assisted by members of the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service Community Sports team and Active Hastings. Students from the School’s Sports Leaders cadre provided all the officials. The added bonus this year was the presence, not only of our Sierra Leonean friends living in London, but of the party of teachers from our Twin Town of Hastings in Sierra Leone who were here for an exchange visit funded by the British Council.

In his introduction to the competition Roger Mitchell, who organises the schools links, welcomed all the visitors and thanked the Headteacher of Filsham Valley School and all those who made it possible – not least those in Filsham Valley and our visitors from London who provided ample refreshment for the large number of spectators. In introducing the Mayor he thanked her for attending and for presenting the trophies and medals.

Results. Boys 1st Little Ridge A; 2nd St Paul’s; 3rd St Leonards; 4th Blacklands; 5th equal Christ Church and St Mary’s; 7th Little Ridge B; 8th Elphinstone.
Girls 1st Blacklands; 2nd St Mary’s; 3rd St Paul’s; 4th Little Ridge; 5th St Leonards.

The formal business of the AGM was preceded by:
(1) A meeting attended by Cllr Jeremy Birch as Leader of the Council, senior HBC officers (Roy Mawford, Richard Homewood & Kevin Boorman), and Derek Tomblin and Sierra Leonean members of the Link. The parties are entering the final few months of the Government-funded project to improve waste management in Sierra Leone, and looked at practical ways of achieving this in Hastings SL.
(2) A delightful Sierra Leonean-style buffet lunch provided by Yvonne and Yvette. Thanks to our Sierra Leonean friends’ generosity, this realised a further £56 for Link funds.
(3) The highlight of the afternoon: a presentation by teachers who had been to Hastings on the first leg of the round of reciprocal visits.

Minutes of the formal AGM

Present: Yvonne Johnson, Yvette John, Tunde Rahman, Emmanuel Nylander, Jo Palmer, Cllrs Eve Martin, Jeremy Birch and Peter Pragnell (Chairman), Ray Keene, Stella Underhill, Carole & Paul Cabban, Eileen & Bill Evans, Nigel Sinden, Gabrielle Bourn, Derek Tomblin, John Geater, Roger Mitchell, Tom Collins, Ian Stewart, Lynne White and Katie Tomei (Blacklands), Mandy Hinxman (Little Ridge), Sue Furness (St Mary Star-of-the-Sea), Dawn Paines (Christ Church), Robin Gray (minutes).

1. Apologies: Rev. Ronnie Williams, Ernie Grice, Cej Burgess (FVS), Cllrs Kim Forward & Phil Scott, Ann Whiting, Athina Pavlou, John Court (WPS), Edwin Rew, Nola McSweeney, Laura Cecil, Amber Rudd, Stefan Anderson & Misha Crouch (Sussex Coast College), Paul Smith.

2. Minutes of the 2010 AGM. The minutes were accepted as a true record of that meeting. There were no matters arising.

3. Chairman’s Report. Cllr Peter Pragnell briefly presented his written report covering 2010 (see below) and went on to outline the various activities that have taken place in the first half of 2011.
• A number of presentations have been made by Derek and the Sierra Leoneans themselves at our linked schools.
• The Show was put on in February by Helenswood and other local schools, with the money raised to be divided between the Link, Demelza and the Hastings Pier Preservation Trust.
• A Link working party on the projected newsletter is still active, though it awaits more input to ensure an attractive final product.
• The Hastings-Dordrecht Twinning Association organised a very successful concert involving a Dutch male voice choir and an English jazz group. It raised £1290, to be split between ourselves and Macmillan Cancer Support.
• A ’Hastings & 1066 Country’ calendar for 2012 will be ready soon. Proceeds will go entirely to the Link (or, in the case of sales in schools, shared between the Link and the school -RG).
• We are getting closer to appointing two nurse-midwives. Yvonne is in contact with Dr Patrick Coker and is pushing for action on this front.
• The SL teachers will be in the schools in the week of Monday 20th June, on the second leg of the first round of reciprocal visits. Roger Mitchell outlined the social programme, which includes a barbecue at Lynne White’s on the 18th, a picnic at Battle Abbey on the 19th; morris dancing at Mad Jack’s Morris on the Monday; a civic reception at the Town Hall at 6pm on Thursday 23rd followed by an evening meal to be organised by the Link; crazy golf on the Friday; and a guided tour of the Old Town on the Saturday afternoon. The meeting agreed to fund the hire of a minibus to enable the HVA to transport the guests to and from Heathrow.

Peter thanked Tom Collins, Headteacher at Little Ridge Primary School, for kindly inviting us to hold the AGM there; and Yvonne and her helpers for yet another excellent buffet.

4. Treasurer’s Report. Ray Keene presented his report on income & expenditure in 2010 though he himself had not been our treasurer for much of the time covered. Ray explained that we draw up our accounts on a calendar year basis, since that is how we report our figures to the Charity Commission, if asked. The accounts have been independently checked and verified.

5. Report on activities in support of the Link, at Sussex Coast College Hastings. Gabrielle Bourn, who works in the library at the Ore site, gave a résumé of initiatives at SCCH.
• The College has collected textbooks and sent them to the HVA in London, from where they will be sent on and eventually reach… the old Hastings College shelves we saved from the Archery Road site. Gabrielle will continue to collect books on technical subjects.
• After the inter-schools football tournament at FVS on Wednesday 22nd, the International Baccalaureate students are showing ‘Africa United’ at about 6pm in the lecture theatre at the Station Plaza site.
• Students are continuing to collect together unwanted football strips. The idea is to get plenty together, so that lots of the teams in Hastings SL can have sets.
• Mohan Chana at the Construction Department is interested in setting up a display on construction techniques in a developing country, as exemplified in Hastings SL. Gabrielle will liaise with Derek over suitable information, photos etc.
• The students have raised £150 so far through a ‘book swap’.
• The International Baccalaureate students are thinking of planning an event to raise funds for the nurse-midwife project.
• The College will be running a film week during Black History Month (October).
• The new Principal of the College is interested in the Link’s work. Robin and Derek to ask for a meeting with Mr Janak Patel, to explore the possibilities.
Paul asked if there are significant storage facilities at the College, but Gabrielle replied that regrettably there are not – the College is already short of space.
John asked what sort of books we should be collecting. Books of general interest to encourage the residents of Hastings Village to use the library? Roger thought that at this early stage the need was still for technical books, business studies etc, though not pitched at too high a level – GCSE would be fine. Derek agreed that for the moment we need to prioritise, as shipping books is so expensive.

6. Election of the Executive Committee. Peter Pragnell was re-elected as Chairman, Derek Tomblin as Vice-chairman, Robin Gray as Secretary and Roger Mitchell as Schools Liaison Officer, nem con, there being no other nominations for these posts.
Ray Keene, who took over as Treasurer some months ago, was confirmed in the post by the AGM, as was Bill Evans, who has just taken over as Membership Secretary.

It was observed that our Constitution states:
§16 para (2b) The Chair shall hold office for two years. When the Chair steps down, the Vice-chair shall become Chair for two years. The retiring Chair shall become Vice-chair for one year, after which a new Vice-chair shall be appointed.
Although this was designed to ensure a constant supply of fresh ideas at the top, in practice this provision is unnecessarily restrictive. It was proposed “That this meeting agrees to drop Section 16 paragraph 2(b)” (proposed by Cllr Jeremy Birch, seconded by Nigel Sinden), and the motion was carried unanimously. Robin to let the Charity Commission know of this minor change to our Constitution.

At an earlier ordinary general meeting, it had been agreed that the membership fee should be £5 per year or £50 for life membership. This was unanimously confirmed at the AGM.

7. Any Other Business. As usual, the Link will have a stand at the St Leonards Festival on 16th July. Derek reminded us that we need volunteers to help staff the stand during the day. Please keep that date free, and let Derek or Robin know if you can help.

8. Date of next meeting. It was agreed to hold the next ordinary general meeting on Wednesday 13th July.

Robin Gray

Chairman’s Report on Link’s activities in 2010

The most significant event of the year was the official opening of the resource centre building, which we have been funding, on 11th March 2010. The ceremony, chaired by Dr Patrick Coker (Pres. West African College of Physicians), was attended by the British High Commissioner and several past High Commissioners, the Director of the British Council, officials from Western Area Rural District Council (WARDC), other local dignitaries and delegates from Hastings Borough Council (HBC). Sir Peter Penfold officially opened the building (photo left) and I unveiled the name plaque (photo right). The name, Hastings Twin Town Centre, was chosen by the villagers from several suggestions and the plaque was manufactured in Hastings, UK. Further funding is still needed to complete the facilities, including some internal finishes, external works and the generator building, generator and air conditioning. Plaques, made by Filsham Valley School, were provided to some rooms, identifying major sponsors.

The HBC delegation was funded by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum to examine how they might assist the recently formed WARDC to perform local authority duties. It was agreed that Waste Management advice would be most beneficial and an officer group, with the required expertise, visited in August. A reciprocal visit, by a group from WARDC, took place in October and a Workshop was held by HBC to discuss appropriate waste management in Sierra Leone with the visitors from other Sierra Leone twinned UK local authorities, involved in similar projects, and representatives from Hull City Council, Warwick Council and Warwickshire County Council.

Upon the closure of Hastings College at Archery Road, surplus office furniture, including library shelving, was collected and is now installed in the Hastings Twin Town Centre. The domestic area of the building has also been furnished so that it can be used to provide an income to maintain the building. The Techsult loan, provided to get the building ready for the opening, has been repaid.

Boxes of donated books, knitted garments and tools have been sent out and various fundraising and publicity events have taken place. Events have included the ever-popular Quiz Night (which raised more funds than last year), the Singathon (with a more African flavour, part compered by King Masco), St Leonards Festival, Hastings Fair, Day in the Park, Sussex Brass Concert, Sainsbury’s door collection, LOAF Sponsored Walk, various presentations and the Linked Schools 7-a-side Football Tournament. Members also attended the Sierra Leone Hastings Association Valentine’s Party and their Thanksgiving Service. Donations were received from Churches, Freemasons and local schools via Helenswood School, with shared proceeds from The Show at the White Rock Theatre. Various unsuccessful bids for grants were made. A new publicity leaflet was produced and new T-shirts were purchased in green and white with the latest logo. We still have plenty for sale!

Significant progress has been made with the schools links. After a lot of hard work and frustrations, British Council funding was obtained for exchange teacher visits. A group of teachers from schools here in Hastings visited Sierra Leone earlier in 2011.

Contact has been made with a VSO nurse who has been training Sierra Leone nurses to become midwives at a hospital in Makeni. She has been most helpful, with guidance on our proposed employment of two maternity nurses and we have made a donation to assist her work there.

In the coming year, we need to continue raising funds in order to complete the Twin Town Centre and to employ two maternity nurses and, of course, to further develop our schools and other links.

Cllr Peter Pragnell (Chairman)

Short report on the schools links

Since the last AGM our efforts have been almost entirely focussed on establishing Reciprocal Visits with our partner schools in Hastings Sierra Leone.
We were delighted to hear in June that Blacklands, Christ Church, Filsham Valley and St Mary Star of the Sea had all been successful in their applications for grants from the British Council Global Partnerships scheme. Little Ridge was also successful after being invited to submit a slightly modified bid. Our party of six teachers and I travelled to Sierra Leone in the February break accompanied by Yvonne Johnson and were royally received. Yvonne’s local knowledge was an invaluable support and encouragement and Francis Mason had thoroughly prepared the ground for all our visits and programme of activities. We are looking forward to the return visit of our partners from 18th to 26th June.
These five established partnerships are now looking to the next stage of development, which would be the achievement of Global Curriculum Grants from the British Council. If successful this could lead, over the next 3 – 4 years, to as many as 6 more teachers from each school exchanging with partners and, in the case of Filsham Valley, a possible exchange of students as well.
Meanwhile, two more schools, St Leonards and St Pauls, have submitted applications for Reciprocal Visit Grants, leading hopefully to exchanges of teachers in 2012.
Our annual Soccer Tournament for schools involved in the Link took place once more in July, being hosted and organised by the Community Sports Team at Filsham Valley led by Teresa Bennett. This year’s tournament is to be held during the visit of our partners on Wednesday 22nd June at Filsham Valley from 1:30pm. All are welcome to join the crowd of onlookers.

Roger Mitchell

Quizzers under the 'parachute'

This year’s quiz night was a great success for Nola and her team, with Jeremy brilliantly MC-ing the evening as Quiz Master again. The winners were the ‘Grinling Gibbons’ team, with 109, with the redoubtable ‘Runners/Non-runners’ coming second with 107.

Mike Yardy had donated a signed England XI cricket shirt, and Gareth Barry a signed Manchester City squad shirt (his number 18). Michael Foster auctioned them both with terrific verve, raising £100 on the cricket shirt and an amazing £180 on the football shirt. We are thinking of auctioning a pair of Derek’s socks next year.

The evening raised about £1200, on entries, the raffle and the auction – together with the infamous orange quiz sheet, we’ve raised over £1800 in the last 2 months. We must thank everyone who came to help, all those who stumped up to take part, and all those who sponsored us with cash and prizes, especially Dain Jensen at Kiley’s Karpets, who once again paid for the hire of the hall and gave two bottles of champers.

Jeremy & Jim wrestle with the maths