Menu
Hastings & St. Leonards on-line community newspaper
Queensbury House, Hastings

Queensbury House, Hastings

Destruction and robbery at Queensbury House

Hard to comprehend, but Queensbury House, home to many charities and not-for-profit organisations was broken into, vandalised and a lot of valuable, valued and necessary equipment stolen. Not that these actions would be okay in any circumstances, but in this case, whoever carried out this mindless vandalism can have no conscience and must have been pretty desperate, as they targeted young people, artists  musicians and the homeless. Zelly Restorick reports.

Fraktured Planet have set up a Go Fund Me Page – and it’d be great if you could check it out and send them a donation.

“At some point during the early hours of Thursday 11 October, Queensbury House in the centre of Hastings town centre was broken into and ransacked,” writes a Fraktured Planet representative on the Go Fund Me Page. “Queensbury House is currently occupied by numerous non-profitable charities and organisations, which help multiple aspects of the community, ranging from supporting the homeless, providing creative spaces and incubating young people and their ideas.

“Organisations and charities affected by this atrociously selfish act of vandalism and burglary include:

Respond 3.0
Warming Up The Homeless
Fraktured Planet
Kneecap Media
Idol Rich
The Community Space
Sus The Producer
Honey Bear
JC Says
Hastings Fringe
Autistic What +
The Fabulous Red Diesel and Kat Lee Ryan’s ‘Sparkly Bird’
The Bambanani Association
Daoist Arts
Samblanco

The current workload of some of the young people who have been affected by this incident, includes clients such as the Arts Council, Channel 4, university graduates and local businesses

“Damage was made to the interior of the seven storey building on the majority of floors. The culprits made off with thousands and thousands of pounds of much needed, valued and valuable equipment, including the likes of: iMacs, computers, cameras, hard drives with years of work stored on them & DJ equipment.

“Our goal is to repair the damage to the building and replace any equipment we can.

“All support is incredibly appreciated as we try to rebuild what was lost from this thriving community.”

The community response to this mindless vandalism and theft has been amazing – and two thirds of the £1,500 has already been raised. With your help, they will helpfully reach their target.

Any carpenters who could help with repairs, please connect with Pablo McFee, who is the Queensbury House representative, on 07961 695282.

Queensbury House Go Fund Me page.

Creative visions and visionaries

Kat Lee Ryan, musician, local resident, creative entrepreneur and thinker, has space in the building. Thinking of the bigger picture, she said: “Personally I would like to see more people in Hastings standing up for their town – reclaiming workspaces, daring to dream that they might be able to run their own small business, especially talented young people who have so little support.

“The rental on space in the private sector is so high, that it is prohibitive for start-ups and low income arts businesses, but that is the very thing Hastings needs – to complement its status as an arts town, a music town and a tourist attraction that is a little bit different.

“I think Hastings is a unique spot, full of unique character, and we should be encouraging this, by supporting those who want to do their own thing. After all, it all creates income in the end – and it contributes to the flavour of the town, which is why people come here.

I would also like to see some council support for initiatives such as this one, rather than trying to fill buildings with faceless corporate giants.”

If you’re enjoying HOT and would like us to continue providing fair and balanced reporting on local matters please consider making a donation. Click here to open our PayPal donation link. Thank you for your continued support!

Posted 20:34 Wednesday, Oct 17, 2018 In: Campaigns

1 Comment

  1. J B KNIGHT

    Amazed they did not burn it down, like the Pier. I suppose it stands as a monolith of opportunity.

    Must be some CCTV somewhere, It is in centre of town with lots of cameras around.

    Hope everyone gets their stuff back, but their creative efforts on hardrives and computers……Sorry. That’s Bad.

    Comment by J B KNIGHT — Thursday, Oct 18, 2018 @ 10:14

Also in: Campaigns

«
»
More HOT Stuff
  • SUPPORT HOT

    HOT is run by volunteers but has overheads for hosting and web development. Support HOT!

    ADVERTISING

    Advertise your business or your event on HOT for as little as £20 per month
    Find out more…

    DONATING

    If you like HOT and want to keep it sustainable, please Donate via PayPal, it’s easy!

    VOLUNTEERING

    Do you want to write, proofread, edit listings or help sell advertising? then contact us

    SUBSCRIBE

    Get our regular digest emails

  • Subscribe to HOT