Hastings Community Hub launches

Hastings HEART, together with Hastings Borough Council, Hastings Voluntary Action, the NHS and a range of voluntary organisations and partners from the local community has developed a community hub and vital hotline to help residents get help during the Covid-19 crisis.

Those who do not have family or local support at hand and those who are self-isolating because they have the virus or have symptoms of it can now contact Hastings Borough Council to be registered, and the council will then triage them in terms of need and support required. In some cases, either the council or community partners will be able to directly help them through volunteers, in other cases the support will be provided by other agencies.

If you are a resident and need support during the crisis, or their friend, family member or carer, you can access the community hub on Hastings Borough Council's website or call the hotline on:

O1424 451O19 

The Helpline is open 9am—5pm Monday—Thursday, 9am—4.30 pm Friday. It is also open especially this weekend (Saturday/Sunday) 28/29 March) 10am—4pm.

Leader Cllr Kim Forward said, "A lot of people have worked incredibly hard over the last three days to set up this community hub, really going ‘above and beyond’ to ensure that those who need our help most will get it. I am very grateful to them, our partners HVA, HastingsHEART, Hastings & St Leonards Neighbourhood Watch, Hastings Foodbank, Heart of Hastings, East Sussex County Council, the NHS, the RSA and the many other organisations who are helping with this vitally important scheme."

Steve Manwaring, director of Hastings Voluntary Action, added:- “These are unprecedented times, and we have to look after the most vulnerable in our community. We are delighted to be working with Hastings Borough Council on this project, which we have set up just this week. We will also be working with many other local organisations to help provide this service, which shows Hastings at its very best:- it’s great to see the local community coming together to help those most at risk.”