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On behalf of Hastings Trust and our partners I am extremely disappointed in the decision of the Department for Education not to fund Hastings Myplace at St Mary in the Castle.

Our proposal had been initially submitted in September 2008 and we have worked with young people to develop their ideas into our ambitious proposals for a youth led and managed arts and cultural facility at St Mary in the Castle. With a team of dedicated architects and other specialists we translated young poeple’s ideas into a scheme of preservation and modernisation of the building which not only aimed to protect and preserve, but also maximise the contribution that the building could make in the current cultural and social context of the town. Our plans would have protected the building, improved it, and put young people at the heart of managing it and preserving it for current and future generations.

Alongside provision of dedicated youth facilities incorporating support, advice and development opportunities, a cultural and arts centre open to the general public, a new cafe venue, and an acoustically improved auditorium, the scheme would also have created about 15 paid jobs, countless volunteering opportunities and training and development opportunities for young people and the wider community in all aspects of managing a cultural facility.

When the government changed in May 2010 we were certain that funds would be withdrawn due to the massive public sector spending cuts that were anticipated – in fact we received a letter in December 2010 telling us that funds were still available and that we would need to review our position and confirm whether we were still willing and able to go forward. We brought partners back together and engaged consultants to carry out the due diligence process that we need to do to ensure that the organisation is aware of and protected from untoward risk, and to ensure that we were still confident in our ability to deliver. However, when we received notification that our project would not be taken forward, the decision had been informed by a report from the BIG Lottery which contained a number of crucial misrepresentations – such as stating that we had not achieved planning permission when in fact this was achieved over a year ago – and to assess our viability they had not compared like with like and had completely disregarded the USP of an iconic performance venue and the associated income generation potential. We were given the opportunity to appeal directly to the Department for Education and we took a cohort to London to meet senior civil servants where again we tried to make our case – despite this and a written appeal we failed to convince Ministers of the viability of our proposals and therefore the funding has been withdrawn.

The loss of this opportunity will have a major impact on young people in the town particularly in the context of significant changes in the provision of support and youth development services. We are also aware, through the condition surveys and other investigative works that have been carried out on the building, that a significant capital injection is needed to undertake remedial works necessary to protect St Mary in the Castle.

Despite the news, the experience of developing the project through working with young people, the design team and other partners, has been a positive one and a great example of collaborative project work. We believe that everyone can be proud of their contributions, regardless of the outcome. Our design team, co-ordinated by Derek Rankin and Guy Holloway from Dunn and CTM Architects, was inspirational and it is such a loss that the scheme cannot now be put in place as it would have made such a significant difference to the building and the historic crescent.

Hastings Trust is keen to see that the building remains in use as an arts and cultural centre for the benefit of the whole community (including young people) and we are pleased to learn that Hastings Borough Council has extended the tenure of Barbara Rogers for another year. We would be happy to work with the Council and the community to look at sustainable solutions for the building, as well as continuing to work with young people to help them to address their concerns about lack of suitable facilities and reductions in provision.

Mel Bonney-Kane

Executive Director

Campaign to save Myplace

We have disappointingly been informed that all further work on the Hastings Myplace scheme should be put on hold pending a decision from the new Government as to whether the funding will still be available.

The loss of this opportunity to create a step change in the provision of universal youth provision for the young people of Hastings would have a huge impact.

It also puts the future of the iconic St Mary in the Castle in question once again.

Further, our scheme would have made a major contribution to the cultural and economic regeneration of Hastings providing access for young people to state of the art performance space, rehearsal space, and development opportunities in all aspects of arts, music, media and performance activity. The project would have created around 20 jobs for local people and countless volunteering and training opportunities for everyone.

The project would have created a once in a generation opportunity for young people to lead on the building of inter-generational links in the community through their management and development of this exciting facility, as well as an opportunity to preserve and protect the valuable heritage site for the benefit of current and future residents and visitors to the town.

Co-ordinators of the various Myplace schemes across the country are actively lobbying, and Hastings Youth Council will be leading its own local campaign - please add your voice to ours to ensure that the needs and aspirations of young people are not forgotten in these pressing economic times.

Please contact me to add your voice to our campaign.

Myplace Stage Two Architects

We are pleased to announce that Dunn and CTM have been appointed as the second stage architects for the Hastings Myplace project. We were very happy working with them during stage 1 and therefore pleased that they got through the robust stage 2 selection process which was advertised across Europe.

We hope to soon receive word from the funders as to whether they will convert our in-principle grant into 'real' money in order that we can progress this exciting project.

Unfortunately BIG's decision has been somewhat delayed and we have not received any indication of the scheduled decision date, however we are in regular communication with them and we are hopeful that the news that planning permission has been granted will help them to progress their decision making.

Myplace at St Mary in the Castle receives planning permission

Just a quick update to let you know that last night Hastings Borough Council's planning committee unanimously agreed our application for Planning Permission / Listed Building Consent to refurbish / convert St Mary in the Castle as a youth managed arts and culutral facility.

We are very happy with the news and are now looking forward to receiving a decision from the funders as to whether they are happy to see the project go ahead.

January Update

Despite the article in the Observer today I would like to stress that BIG Lottery have still not made their decision on whether to convert the in-principle grant into a full award - we are in on-going communications with them and have no reason to anticipate that the bid will be rejected.

We are aware of the impact that the delays have on the current tenant, however we are not in a position to be able to speed up the funders' decision making processes.

It is unfortunate that the Observer continues to perpetuate misinformation about the project.

When we get the decision we will announce it, whether it is favourable or not. If you have any questions about progress please direct them to me at Hastings Trust on 01424 446373 or mel@hastingstrust.co.uk

Myplace Update September

I'm really pleased to report that I've just come from Hastings Borough Council's Cabinet meeting where there was unanimous support for granting the lease of St Mary in the Castle to Hastings Trust to enable the project to go forward.

Tomorrow we submit all of the documentation that we've been working on with young people, architects, and other partners for the past six months and hopefully by the end of December we will have had our 'in-principle' grant converted into a real offer of cash!

It's great news for Hastings Trust and for young people in the town, as well as for others who are interested in a sustainable and vibrant future for St Mary in the Castle.

The new facility will be called The Point at St Mary in the Castle, a name selected by young people, and its new logo has been designed by our own youth client team member, Elissa Seddon, a graphic design student at the University of Brighton - well done Elissa.

More updates as they happen

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MyPlace at St Mary in the Castle Update 24th June 2009

For those of you that are not yet aware, we now have the architects confirmed that will be working on the St Mary in the Castle project – a collaboration of two local firms, coming together as Dunn & CTM. The selection process included a vote from the young people who attended the design day and witnessed 3 very different presentations.

Due to the tight schedule laid down by the Big Lottery, Dunn & CTM are very keen to undertake another 2 or 3 design workshops with young people in a bid to draw together and tighten up the ideas we have collected through various consultations. The first of these workshops was held on Monday June 22nd at St Mary in the Castle. The idea behind it is to engage the young people in situating the ideas within St Mary’s using structural plans and a model of the building to see the feasibility of the suggestions made and start focusing on design layout etc.

The youth client team working on this project recently had a day trip to the Sorrell Foundation’s Somerset House, where they participated in several workshops surrounding design and facilities for young people. After lunch they were given a tour of the Roundhouse in Camden to see what work was done within this Grade 2* listed building; especially considering the structural similarities. The young people that attended enjoyed the day and gained lots more ideas around designing and placing facilities within St Mary’s and the constraints it has due to its listed status.

Jodie, Youth and Community Engagement Officer, is currently going out to schools and local youth agencies to promote myplace and encourage greater participation from young people across the whole town. We have a summarised copy of Dunn and CTM’s presentation that was shown at the design day which available to be shown to young people and the wider community - should you know any agencies/organisations that may want to see this then please do contact Jodie so that arrangements can be made.

We are aware that there are some questions surrounding the involvement of the wider community in the facility once it is up and running, and also in the design ideas for St Mary in the Castle. The aim of the youth hub is to create a world class facility for the young people of the town, so it is a must that the young people have a great impact on the design layout and the chosen facilities to be placed within St Mary’s, however young people themselves want to wider community to make use of the building, and it is a key output of the funding that we provide intergenerational opportunities. Young people will welcome the community into the building, will help them to access the facilities and resources available, and will work with the wider community to promote community cohesion and joint working. The widest possible involvement and use of the building is essential to the sustainability of the project. Young people themselves will be presenting design ideas to the wider community (date in July to be confirmed), and there will be opportunities to feedback and help to refine the ideas into the final design concept. There will be an exhibition of ideas during August, prior to the submission of the final detail to the funders, and further opportunities for involvement beyond.


Notwithstanding the fact that young people are key to guiding the design and facilities, we are keen to hear your views and options regarding what facilities and resources you would like to see in the building and therefore we encourage you to contact us with your ideas, or if you would like to be more involved.

Contact details:
Jodie Taylor – Youth and Community Engagement Officer
jodie@hastingstrust.co.uk
Mel Bonney-Kane – Executive Director
mel@hastingstrust.co.uk
Carol Biggs – Assistant Director
carol@hastingstrust.co.uk

Telephone 01424 446373