Community Shares
Our Community Share scheme is proving to be a resounding success. With over 1,600 shareholders to date (the vast majority investors from the Hastings area) the Hastings Pier community share issue has raised over £450k towards our £500k target and is looking for a final push before the offer closes at midnight on Saturday 5th April. Over £13.7m was initially raised from the Heritage Lottery Fund to fund the engineering, steelwork and major renovation work needed to the structure. The community share issue will fund the attractions on the pier required to make it financially viable.
The purpose of the new pier is to create jobs and prosperity for the town; we can revitalise the seafront and offer locals and visitors alike a real reason to visit the pier again and again.
The Hastings economy is already benefiting with around £500,000 having already been spent directly in the immediate area. Whilst of course we have to respect public procurement rules, we expect the local economy to benefit considerably from the project itself, as well as the economic uplift from bringing the pier back to life. We already have more shareholders than any other such scheme in the country except for two football clubs and we may well overtake one of those. This last week is vital to help us reach our target and make the new Hastings Pier as successful as it deserves to be.
Simon Opie - CEO, Hastings Pier Charity
Buy shares now – Be quick!
98 % SOLD
3 DAYS LEFT
£ 487690 SOLD
Construction update
Our construction team have been on full steam ahead these past few weeks. Not only have they been hard at work replacing and repairing much of the iron and steel work of the substructure but, as some walkers passing by may have noticed, our decking has arrived and is being laid. The decking, which is made from Ekki, sustainably sourced from Cameroon, is heavier than water and resistant to salt corrosion, making it a perfect building material for marine constructions such as our pier. David Spooner, our Construction Manager, says"The emphasis is now on forming an access way for the length of the pier so that we are able to get plant and equipment to the end where the ball room is to be demolished, and the visitor centre constructed." As well as this, three new columns have been installed under the parade extension. For more information come to our teatime updates at The Hub on every second Wednesday afternoons or look on our website for more information.
The Hub
Our visitor space, or The Hub, is also running well with a wide range of activities and events on offer. The Hub is an open visitors space used by the charity as an information centre, teaching space and meeting place for our various activity sessions, talks, presentations and open days. Our most recent event has been Chocolate Welding, where families came in to learn about the truss work under the pier with the help of Project Engineer, Peter Wheeler, Education and Volunteer Coordinator, Jo McLaughlan and some of our volunteers. Our next event will be 'Cake Construction' which will take place on 19th April, learn more about the building work with the help of some experiments and cake! Come along and have a chat with a volunteer to learn more about what’s happening at the pier and The Hub which is open to the public Wednesday to Saturday at varying times, check out our website for more information on opening times and events.
Our pier apprentices
Andy Dan
Our two apprentices have been working on the pier since February, learning various skills and techniques that are used in the building and repair of Hastings Pier. The apprentices, who are studying at Sussex Coast College Hastings, are going to be working on the pier for the next two years.
A big thank you to all those local businesses who have been holding one of our collection boxes! The money being collected will be going towards a defibrillator to be positioned on the pier for the use of our construction team and later once the pier has opened.
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