Compost Community hub at Ore Community Centre

Hastings and St Leonards’ Compost Community held their first AGM recently, reporting on their progress, their future goals and their belief that the future resilience of the town will depend on such grassroots initiatives. Keen to be part of a local composting system and hearing of the compost hub opening at Ore Community Centre, HOT’s Zelly Restorick went along to find out more.

The Compost Community is a local initiative, started in 2021, catalyzed by the awareness of the lack of kerb-side food waste collection. Brighton and Hove’s Food Partnership has been their main inspiration.

St John’s Church in St Leonards was the first location with three rodent-proof compost boxes serving 30-40 households, made possible by donations from Transition Town Hastings and a private funder. The compost box was given a church blessing by the local vicar, David and also a shamanic blessing.

Three further community compost hubs have also been publicly launched, at Warrior Square Station, The Yard near Morrisons supermarket on Queens Road and All Saints Church in the Old Town.

The long-term goal is for at least twenty composting hubs across the whole of Hastings and St Leonards. Brighton and Hove have forty bins for their area. The latest one to be established locally is at Ore Community Centre and a number of other potential sites have already been identified, where people have asked for a community composting system.

The Compost Community is a members only project – and you can join for free. Members are given a free induction by one of the local compost monitors, including a brief introduction to the project, how to use the bins – what to put in and what not to put in, how to bring the food waste, what sort of container is ideal – and the necessary padlock combination.

The compost monitors also check the bins and turn the contents when needed. “Being a compost monitor is an amazing thing to do,” said Rachael. “Monitors learn a lot about the composting process and it’s a lovely way to meet people.” Members will be able to use the compost and any excess can be donated to community projects/places of their choice  Members also receive updated info and a newsletter re launches and other community initiatives.

There are currently sxeven members of the steering group, all of whom retained their positions at the AGM, who are involved in all aspects of the project.

Compost bin building is one important aspect: all the bins are made from re-used pallets collected locally. The first three hubs were funded by Transition Town Hastings and Trinity Wholefoods grants and the last two with a grant from Viridor. The bins are based on a design by the Brighton and Hove food waste initiative. Maintenance of the bins is essential, along with making them resilient to our ever-changing weather conditions. The project would welcome donations of Euro Pallets.

Hastings Compost Community has recently entered into a partnership with the Parchment Trust, whose trainees at Friary Gardeners have started building the compost bins in an exciting collaboration.

With 90,000 people in the local area, it’s impossible to reach everyone, so the project encourages home composting also. In the future, a simple guide on how to build a compost bin will be developed, for all those people who’ve asked about building their own bins. Some businesses locally want to compost their food waste also.

Julia Hilton, leader of the Green Party, attended and said: “What has been achieved is really impressive and inspirational with the project growing organically, step by step.” She went on to mention a 1.5 hour workshop on composting at Great Dixter on 10 December by The Compost Club which was led by a composting guru.

The group are tackling the fruit fly issue, using cardboard layers to reduce the cycle of egg laying, which has worked. But there is another side, as the fruit flies play an important role in the eco-system, breaking down things that the worms aren’t interested in. Further investigation into this subject is planned, as the project wants to do the best for the environment and the local community.

Viridor has been another funder for sustainability initiatives, offering a grant of £5,000, which will be used for medium and long-term goals. Also support from Black Butterfly, Clifton Community Centre, Hastings Voluntary Action, Brighton and Hove Food Partnership.

The Compost Community are also looking for fun, creative ways to raise funding, including sponsored activities.

Education and Outreach are two important areas that the project want to focus on in the coming year. They have already connected with Hollington Pocket Park, Clifton Community Centre and they hope to connect with Project ReWild. One idea is to have composting at school entrances, making composting a part of everyday life and creating fun, educational activities for children.

Specific support currently needed

Social media and website
Bin maintenance person
Roaming/back-up compost monitors
Admin support
Education and outreach

If you want to get more involved, please contact info@hastings-compost-community.org

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