Category Archives: Hastings

Thoughts about Hastings Pier 10 years after the fire

Posted on October 5, 2020 by jesssteele

Today is my daughter’s 20th birthday. A decade ago she spent her 10th birthday in the shadow of the still-smouldering Hastings Pier fire. I had been up all night, watching from the White Rock Hotel while our beloved pier was … Continue reading →

Posted in Hastings, Hastings Pier, JRS website, Piers, Seaside | Leave a comment

Crisis, Recovery, Transition, Legacy

Posted on April 11, 2020 by jesssteele

“Provide hope and inspiration for collective action to build collective power to achieve collective transformation. Rooted in grief and rage but pointed towards vision and dreams.” Patrisse Cullors, Black Lives Matter, 2013 “Hope offers us clarity that, amid the uncertainty … Continue reading →

Posted in Hastings, JRS website, Policy, Thinking | Leave a comment

Whoever is Hastings’ new leader, let’s go to Wigan!

Posted on February 16, 2020 by jesssteele

You and I and the other 95,000 Hastings inhabitants have no vote in the election that will happen tomorrow (17/2/20). Just 23 Labour councillors will choose the person who will lead our town for the next few years. Will we … Continue reading →

Posted in Hastings, Self-renovating neighbourhoods | 1 Comment

A Great Leap Forwards

Posted on February 10, 2019 by jesssteele

The Observer Building, Hastings Continue reading →

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A working life as a community activist

Posted on January 25, 2019 by jesssteele

Jess Steele talk to 200+ Year 7 and Year 8 students at Helenswood School, 25/1/19. 4 things that help you get ready for the future that you can’t see – all of them underpinned by READING Continue reading →

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How the Money Works Part 2: Rock House

Posted on October 31, 2018 by jesssteele

(See also Part 1: Hastings Pier: How the Money Works) Until we as citizens understand ‘how the money works’ when it comes to developing land and buildings we will always be disadvantaged – land and buildings are where power is … Continue reading →

Posted in Hastings, JRS website, Self-renovating neighbourhoods | 1 Comment

How the money works

Posted on June 17, 2018 by jesssteele

I’m going to try to explain the financial package that Friends of Hastings Pier put together as simply as I can. This is both an exercise in extreme transparency and a practice run for some workshops I’m planning about how … Continue reading →

Posted in Hastings, Hastings Pier, Jericho Road Solutions, Piers, Seaside | 8 Comments

Investing Upside Down (ppt)

Posted on March 4, 2018 by jesssteele

Here’s a link to the slides I showed yesterday at the Labour Party #NewEconomics conference in Southampton. Plus the narrative notes. Investing Upside Down – Jess Steele Investing Upside Down – narrative

Posted in Hastings, Hastings Pier, Jericho Road Solutions, JRS website, Ore Valley, Self-renovating neighbourhoods, Thinking | 1 Comment

Friends Again!

Posted on February 27, 2018 by jesssteele

Friends of Hastings Pier reestablished 2018 Continue reading →

Posted in Hastings, Hastings Pier, JRS website, Piers, Seaside | 2 Comments

I am losing my heart to Ore Valley

Posted on February 5, 2017 by jesssteele

  I feel like a love-struck teenager. I’ve always been in love with places, and always attracted to the underdogs – my towns Deptford and Hastings and all the other-people’s-places that I fall in love with: Blackpool, Scarborough, Bradford, Greater Manchester, Liverpool 8. If … Continue reading →

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1,000 Days

Posted on February 11, 2016 by jesssteele

Jericho Road Solutions is 1,000 days old today, and I’m determined to carve out a little time to reflect on the experience and some of the lessons so far. It’s been an honour to work with ambitious, stubborn, creative leaders … Continue reading →

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America Ground Pow Wow!

Posted on October 18, 2015 by jesssteele

The first America Ground Pow Wow, held on 6th October, aimed to maintain and expand a local conversation which was kicked off by White Rock Trust earlier this year to ask the questions: is gentrification happening, if so is it a … Continue reading →

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Developer Stress

Posted on October 18, 2014 by jesssteele

My favourite definition of an entrepreneur is someone who sets out to do something without controlling the resources to do it. I’ve been an entrepreneur a long time. Since my dad got me to write a history of Deptford in … Continue reading →

Posted in Hastings, Jericho Road Solutions, Meanwhile, Self-renovating neighbourhoods | 5 Comments

Ground Control?

Posted on August 31, 2014 by jesssteele

The building at 49-51 Cambridge Road Hastings needs a new name. What about Ground Control? Continue reading →

Posted in Hastings, Jericho Road Solutions, JRS website, Meanwhile, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Roller-coaster week

Posted on June 13, 2014 by jesssteele

It’s been a roller-coaster week here in Hastings. Since handing over the pier project to Hastings Pier Charity, the White Rock Trust has been focusing on the wider neighbourhood and on the second most challenging building in town – the … Continue reading →

Posted in Hastings, Hastings Pier, Jericho Road Solutions, JRS website, Seaside, Self-renovating neighbourhoods | 9 Comments