Participatory Grant making

Are you involved in practical nature-based solutions in Hastings – seeding, sowing, growing, gardening, planting, tending or composting? Are you interested in working better together for a more sustainable future for our town? Using the wellbeing of people, place and planet as our goal, HVA’s Community Nature Connections project invites you to be part of a six-month community learning journey.

Building on last year’s Learning to Grow workshops (hosted by Transition Town Hastings), we’ll be gathering once a month to share ideas, projects and practical information. Our primary focus this year will be to put into practice the hypothetical question we posed last year – “What would you do if you had £50k to spend making Hastings greener?”

We have a very real £25,000 to spend together on a project or projects that get more people being active in nature. Not a fortune, but thanks to ESCC’s public health team, enough to make a difference. We’ll continue to use collective impact principles and learn how to implement a *participatory budgeting approach.

Don’t worry if you weren’t part of last year’s LTG or you’re unsure about the terms above – everyone’s welcome and we’ll be learning together!

Please book your place only if you’re able to participate in the majority of the gatherings between now and January 2026. They will be monthly, about 2 hours in length, and take place on a weeknight (to be decided).

Our first gathering will take place outdoors, in the Priory Square secret garden (across the street from the Priory Square car park, behind ESK). It’s outside, so please dress accordingly. Free refreshments. Help with transportation can be provided.

Contact Lucy Abbott or Su Barnicoat at HVA for further information.

*Participatory budgeting (PB) is one of the key ways to achieve successful change and continuous improvement in planning and delivery of services / projects.

By increasing community participation and opening up more inclusive ways of working

participatory budgeting helps to achieve better outcomes for individuals and communities by involving and engaging local people in having a direct say in how public money is spent in their community.

Resources are allocated through a process of community participation in the decision-making process, in order to meet identified local need.