Taking stock of what Community Development learning I have contributed towards before my mum died

Terminal illness and death of a dear one provide a natural time for us to take stock of our lives.

Although I've been putting at least one blog post a month on the Sussex Community Blog (http://sussexcommunity.blogspot.com) since the October 2010 fire is site, with my focus for the last six weeks being to assist my mother have a peaceful death, March 2012 nearly produced no update to the blog. Yet much is now happeneing in St Leonards in terms of Community Planning / Community Development. That story will be taken up more by the Sussex Community Blog (and associated blogs from Paul Crosland & friends).

For now, here;s some of the last year re-visited:

1) Virtues (A recently discovered YouTube 'rant' that says so much of value):


2)Jo Moon -Stories that heal:


3) Paul Crosland, AGoodWeek begins at St Leonards Warrior Sq- #Hastings Action for Happiness #afhh:


4) The local MP endorses the Action for Happiness work & even Mark buys it!:


5) Poverty in St Leonards, through the eyes of a visitor


6)Introduction to #Hastings for Happiness #afhh @actionhappiness


7)St Leonards Sharing Consortium - some of what we bring together 4 #stleonards:


8) Mark Williamson, Director of Action for Happiness visits #Hastings & #StLeonards #afhh


9)2 things from the chair of HPWRT for a happier #Hastings & St Leonards @thepeoplespier #afhh


10) Ray Chapman, HPWRT, after two day conflict and dispute training in #Hastings #StLeonards #afhh


11) #HastingsPier Fire, HPWRT chair to those there when fire started


12) Ethical Outings in Hastings -Part 1; Southwater Road


13) Hastings Pier Fire 1st Anniversary (1 of 4):


14) Hastings Pier Fire 1st Anniversary (2 of 4):


15) Hastings Pier Fire 1st Anniversary (3 of 4):


16) Hastings Pier Fire 1st Anniversary (4 of 4):

(NB I'm the one who can't count in the video above!)

Kind regards/ Lots of love (whichever you prefer)
Paul
- http://twitter.com/paulcrosland
- http://stleonardssharing.info
- http://nagaloka-dream-cycle.blogspot.com/
(With overview of everything at http://additionalinfo.blogspot.com)

Hastings Community Justice Panel

This blog post is about Hastings Community Justice Panel and "Ethical Outings"

For Friday 5th October 2012, the second anniversary of the pier fire, a team is preparing a performance of the "Ethical Outings in Hastings" play (http://ethicaloutings.blogspot.com)

I have begun to write a scene convening the first 
Hastings Community Justice Panel :

Paul Crosland: Thank you for accepting my invite to consider joining this team committed to a deep sense of justice. I've head-hunted you as the people I'd most like to have disputes with over the issue of whether justice has been done in Hastings. We might annually review which matters in our two towns we most wish to see brought to justice. For the time being we start with Hastings Pier Fire.



http://ethicaloutings.blogspot.com

Will 2012 be the year that the truth of the October 2010 Hastings Pier Fire comes out?

"The Truth Will Out" in 2012 (some say). Perhaps we have to wait longer before people are sufficiently ready (and supported) to talk?

So meanwhile, here's some of the 2011 highlights with campaigning for a "more caring and sharing Hastings & St Leonards", some brushes with local celebs (notably Sue Coates) and some personal disclosure and opportunity to understand more of why getting justice in Hastings is so deeply linked to my own story and what I want for those who were on the pier that fateful/fortuitous night!

Here's a flashback to the night of the fire (with Jeremy Birch):

& here's a bit more background (again as The 'Man of Many T-shirts'):

And now I search for another 'Man of Many T-shirts' this is what I've found:

Restating the Paul Crosland personal mission statement & publishing what the Observer did not

I give my service to generating a more caring & sharing Hastings & St Leonards.

In doing this I'm learning & practising inclusivity and happiness.

I moved to St Leonards because the arrestees after Hastings Pier Fire were from St Leonards; addressing all these wounds is a driving force for me.

I hope my work contributes to creating a town in which no-one wants to set light to any buildings.

In working towards this goal, I treat people ('arsonist' or otherwise) with respect and dignity.

Paul Crosland 

(November 2011)

*****************************

Publishing what the Observer did not:
Dear Editor

My interest in the pier fire, which prompted me (and the organisations I head) to move to St Leonards, is not so much in finding someone to blame as in encouragaging the relevant young people in this community TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

It seems unlikely that those who were on the pier on 5th October 2010 will come forward to take responsibility until some combination of the following occurs:
1) A deeper understanding of why talking truthfully about what happened matters so much to a (growing?) number of us.
2) A conscience that recognises that a better way to deal with things is to "come clean".
3) An awareness that many others in this community model how to take responsibility (eg for things they "got away with" that have nonetheless left deep wounds) & that actually taking responsibility works well for all.
4) They stop using excuses about others' as a way to deny the need to  take responsibility. (In Criminology these excuses are called the 4 techniques of neutralisation)
5) Hearing fewer voices from those who are only saying what they want FROM those who were on the pier (e.g. those who want further suffering as retribution)
6) Hearing more about what others want FOR those who were on the pier e.g. opportunities for a life that values your skills, determination and wish to live a meaningful life, living harmoniously within your chosen community.
7) Something that sufficiently addresses your fear of talking out about what happened, so that you take courage and do it before someone else reveals your painful secret.
Kind regards
Paul Crosland

CEO Mediation Support & the main blogger on (healing) the pier fire (here at www.sussexcommunity.blogspot.com)

Amber Rudd (MP), Jon Djanogly (Minister for Courts) & pier fire anniversary events

I'm now sharing two letters (on two consecutive days a month ago) from the local MP, Amber Rudd, about the process of getting a community justice process in Hastings for those on the pier on 5th October last year.
It is hoped that at least one of those on the pier last year will write a letter to at least one of the 'victims' of that fire, so that it can be read out at the anniversary meetings:

Wednesday 5th October 7.30pm-10pm*
Film: Burning Bridges
(Followed by a discussion on what community justice looks like in Hastings/St Leonards)

SAME AGAIN; ONLY DIFFERENT
Saturday 8th October 7.30pm-10pm*

Film: Burning Bridges

(Followed by a discussion on what community justice looks like in Hastings/St Leonards)

"Some years before I became a Criminologist, with a Masters Degree in Criminology from Cambridge University, I was a foolish young man at Oxford Polytechnic, where, amongst other things, I threw away my would be degree in Business Studies; focussing instead on political activism. Also politically active there was Jon Djanogly, now the minister for courts, so it will no doubt be an interesting set of correspondence or meetings that I have with him to advance the mediation process in Hastings / St Leonards in relation to the pier fire." (Paul Crosland, CEO, Mediation Support Ltd)

 Jonathan Djanogly's much appreciated initiatives in advancing mediation in divorce law are reported by the BBC here; the main issue I have here though, is the exclusion of mediation work in Domestic Violence cases.
Here I disagree with the non-Domestic Violence view expressed by my colleague Maria in this interview on the Vanessa show:

To understand what role mediation can play in generating safety (& clarity) for family members in Domestic Violence cases may require a longer period of time than a TV programme like this can give it, and the case for mediation for all conflicts (other than those where 'the protective use of force' is required urgently) may better be progressed a stage at a time.

*Venue for both events to be announced in accordance with bookings

the longest book never written

The 3rd June 2011 Hastings Observer, on page 20, reported Cllr Godfrey Daniel suggesting that

"if a witness statement about the impact of the crime on all those affected was taken, it would be 'longer than most books in the universe'"

We live in an age whereby as well as writing statements, anyone affected has the option of recording YouTube videos (anonymously or more publically); so my questions are:

1.  Where is the material for those who were on the pier to watch or read so they can get a sense of what the impact was? 
2. What we can all do to move on in our lives, once the harm has been acknowledged and justice done?

Having shown the pier trustees a film called 'Burning Bridges' (about community meetings to deal with the consequences of an arson on a historic wooden bridge) in January 2011, by April (and before the lottery decision and the Crown Prosecution System's decision to drop the case against two individuals) Ray Chapman, chair of the Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust, recorded a video for those who were on the pier on the night of the fire. (That video is stored privately).

Now that Mediation Support Ltd (whose CEO, Paul Crosland, edits this blog), have moved into the Southwater Area Community Centre, Ray Chapman called in to record this public film about Hastings Justice:


If you want to see the words from Ray Chapman's YouTube video in print, here they are:

"Hi, I'm Ray, the chair of trustees  of the Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust and this is a communication to those of you who were on Hastings Pier on 5th October 2010. 

Some of our trustees have been involved in the Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust for over four years in preparing the business case for the Heritage Lottery Foundation, in partnership with the Hastings Borough Council and English Heritage.

We have obviously heard repeatedly from a number of sources particular names and also a rumour that there may be more than two of you who were on the pier that night. If you were on the Pier on  5th October 2011, we have a conversation to have, its is in the interests of our community that we  get a clear understanding of what happened on the pier that night.  Many people were effected and want to live in a community without buildings catching alight under mysterious circumstances.  The key is now for the town to get the pier up and running again as soon as possible. I hope that you'll be able to engage with the community and build bridges. 

I've seen  a film made in America called 'Burning Bridges' where six young men burnt a heritage bridge and they met with the community and got a deeper understanding of how everyone was affected. The community supported them to carry on living in that area and contributing to get them involved to repair the bridge. Who knows what the community will have, or even you will have, for us all to have a better future in Ore, St Leonards and Hastings? We learned, sadly. that not 'everyone loves the pier'. However some of the ideas from the recent consultation include concerts, raves, music, theme park rides and scoring most boat trips, cruising, lagoon, fishing, angling and green energy encompassing our heritage and also engineering and tourism for our local education providers. What do you think?

I am aware that other members of the community will be watching this and will have been affected by the pier fire. You too can also voice an opinion publicly or privately that will be passed on in due course to those people whose names we have been given.

The way we are doing this safely is through the -website www.peoplesjustice.org.uk  "

If you care to help this process, then please add a comment to this blog post. Alternatively, submit words and video eg via www.peoplesjustice.org.uk or just straight to YouTube, and drop a line to the mediation support ltd email or the peoplesjustice email so that I can put your message on this page.

What I did that led to Hastings Pier Fire

I offered earlier (here) to share my theory about how I let Hastings & St Leonards down in 2010 in the run up to the 5th October fire. Many of us probably did something that impacted on which building caught fire that night; it's just that the links between our actions and those of some identified (yet anonymous) youths from St Leonards are not so easy to see.
I was nervous about posting this video, and the reactions I've got have justified those nerves. Am I too far out on a limb here in what I'm communicating with the community I've chosen to move into as a result of the 5th October fire?
Some would say that when I say something that doesn't go down well, I should stop digging a hole for myself:

I suggest that the best I can do is carry on in my imperfect way (my AKA is 'The Imperfect Idealist') doing all I can to share.
(My other alias is 'Lend-It-All Man':

Having worked part-time on sharing initiatives since summer 2007, when I co-founded a 'transition group' in my local area, my work has been recognised by environmental and business innovation think tanks i.e.on the importance of sharing, and the innovations that will make it happen.
Now my recommendation is that people use www.streetbank.com and that Hastings/St Leonards (where resources are scarcer than many other places) becomes a model of sharing for the rest of the UK.

Anyhow, here's the video I offered in December; I'm keen to hear what events you connect together as the deeper story of this sea-side town getting to this place of pier destruction:

Other pages on this blog:
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Mediation Support at Southwater Community Centre
Action for Happiness -A Good Week
Paul C -AKA Lend-It-All Man
Why Move to Hastings?

Even those who started the fire may have loved the pier

-is that possible?

Black Tide; poem by CVG, St Leonards-on-Sea, 9/10/2010


Black Tide

A black tide has rolled in,
A black tide of starlings,
A black tide of rats’ bones, charred,
A black tide of timber, plastic, glass and twisted metal:
The sea-claimed refuse of the night of flame.
‘You can save me’ read the banners.
‘Everyone loves the Pier’ said the poster
You trampled as you scaled the railings
To tear the heart out of the town
And release the black tide

(Photo is of blog author, Paul Crosland)

Other pages on this blog:
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Action for Happiness -A Good Week
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Why Move to Hastings?

Is this Blog welcome in Hastings?

Below these four YouTube videos which I filmed in Hastings/St Leonards over the weekend is a troubling letter which I've received (indirectly) and which I share particularly with Hastings residents for your feedback please?

Relevant links:

Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust (HPWRT) website

The Tragic Battle for Hastings (Sunday 10th October 2010 Observer article)

Hastings & St Leonards Observer

Relevant links:

Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust (HPWRT) website

Hastings & St Leonards Observer

After filming the chip shop clip above, a Pier Trustee rang me and said there was no insurance.
Other pages on this blog:
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Mediation Support at Southwater Community Centre
Action for Happiness -A Good Week
Paul C -AKA Lend-It-All Man
Why Move to Hastings?

Sussex Community: "Boot up the backside was what we needed"

Sussex Community: "Boot up the backside was what we needed"
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Why Move to Hastings?

"Boot up the backside was what we needed"

News update: Scott Ellis co-ordinates an October meeting for residents that want to do something about the town of Hastings.

From Friday 8th October's Hastings & St Leonards Observer, the letter that grabbed my attention the most was the one given the headline:"Boot up the backside was what we needed".
I quote the beginning and the end of that letter and then copy the correspondence since with Scott Ellis of Homesdale Gardens:
This town has become an absolute disgrace.Ithas become a breeding ground for The Jeremy Kyle Show. Surely now, after the defacing of the Banksy and the burning of the pier, it has to be the final straw.
...
We need to at least be on par with decent seaside destinations both here and abroad to attract the right type of visitors to the town.
Maybe the destruction of the pier is the boot up the backside we need. Let's force boring councillors to give their decision making over to a local team of talented, passionate, creative and visionary individuals with backbone, drive and clout, who can then spend a few years moulding Hastings into the aspiring seaside resort it once was and should be.
Anyone interested in ruffling some feathers and forming a group to discuss this further please mail me at scott@rockettmedia.co.uk 

I wrote to Scott as follows:
Dear Scott

Out of all the letters in the Observer yours was the only one I wanted to re-publish.
Permission to blog your letter & email address, please on www.sussexcommunity.blogspot.com ?

Please also vote on whether you want £500k to be spent on incarceration of those who burned down Hastings Pier:
www.sussexcommunity.blogspot.com

Restorative Justice, to me, is the creation of a quality of connection where everyone's needs matter, pain is allowed expression and dreams are at least shared, whether or not they are subsequently enacted, together or apart.
Best wishes,
Paul
 
Scott replied:

Please feel free to publish my letter and anything in this email. It's the first time I've ever written a letter to a newspaper, but it got to the point where enough is enough. I've had lots and lots of mails in support and will probably be holding a meeting next Saturday early afternoon for all those who want to get involved. Time and place to be arranged, I'll let you know via email in the week. I hope you can attend, the aim of the meeting is to try and formalise things a little and discuss what direction the group will take. Of course the pier is in all our interests to get rebuilt to the highest standard, but for now I think it's best to focus on a shorter term plan to try and make Hastings a nicer place for residents and visitors, then we can add our weight to the bigger money projects (ie the pier, ice rink, bathing pool) as we grow. I've pasted below a response I've sent out to many of the locals who have shown an interest....

My plan really is to get some ideas together from people like yourselves and condense them into a shortlist which everybody who's shown an interest is in agreement on.

Once these are identified, then arrange for us all to meet in a week for a chat and try and set something a bit more formal up for a further meeting with some of the councillors and others who may have some clout.

Whether the councillors be willing to come and get an earful from us remains to be seen, but where there's a will there's a way! We'll have to hijack them at their offices if not. All we need really is to convince them that our ideas are good for the town (which they will be) and get them to show a bit of interest and backbone in getting them implemented.
Surely it's in these councillors interests to do this to make a bit of a name for themselves(?)

I think the ideas generated should be for short to medium term practical things that won't cost the council too much to put into place. As money can't be the reason for them not to act, we can put some pressure on them immediately to get the ball rolling.I've listed a few below to give you an idea on what I'm thinking, and would welcome your input from any additional thoughts or views/improvements you might have.

Re the Carnival.  Get the whole thing properly co-ordinated and add some eye candy for excitement (ie stilt walkers, fire eaters, ridiculous costumes etc). We have lots of design degree courses running in Hastings and Brighton, lots of artists and creative people living in the town. Let's get them properly involved, have a group heading things up and co-ordinating, run some design competitions with local secondary schools/college/university etc. Arrange some local workshops with the costume and float designers who are involved with Notting Hill/Mardi Gras(Brighton). Anything has to be better than the crap we have already.

Any scruffy properties on roads in Hastings and St Leonards within 1mile of the town centre or seafront to be given 12 months to give them a compulsory lick of paint and a tidy up. This would make it look like there's a bit of pride about the place. Maybe some kind of monetary incentive like reduced council tax(and maybe some of the herberts doing community service could also get involved in painting and/or improving communal areas)

Old Town Licensing.  Extend the noise curfew until later and encourage a more European approach to things. (A few moany residents in George St are suffocating the place). 'If you don't like noise then don't move to an area full of pubs, bars and restaurants'.

No taxis or vehicles allowed on George St on Fri or Sat evening.

The fountain roundabout needs sorting out. The edges of it are broken and scuffed from lorry wheels and years of neglect. It needs knocking down and rebuilding. Maybe a big stunning piece of artwork or sculpture in the middle, properly lit up so that it becomes a talking point and a landmark. (The television was invented in Hastings, maybe a tribute to the evolution of TV or a John Logie Baird or something?)

Strictly enforced bigger fines for dog owners who mess the place. Three strikes and you lose your dog. (Maybe that's a bit extreme but you know where I'm coming from!)

Proper encouragement made to replace tacky and cheap looking signage above shopfronts and in shopwindows with something classier and a bit more fitting to a stunning seaside location. Brighton, Bournemouth don't have this problem, it's made Hastings look cheap and nasty for years. Time to inject a bit of quality and style...

Any empty shops in the town centre or seafront to be used in a constructive manner (ie free display area for local students/artists, small business, entrepreneurs) until they find tenants. This should be compulsory.

A serious attempt be made and proper incentives given to attract a big 4 or 5 star hotel chain to look at opening in Hastings to start raising the profile of the place a bit.

The town website is rubbish. This needs to be a million times more attractive as it's the Hastings shopwindow to the whole world. And promoted properly online too to attract the right clientele.

Obviously these are just ideas at the moment and can be elaborated on or sidelined depending on the interest from within the group. I hope you both find them of interest, I'd be keen to hear your thoughts.

Kind Regards,
Scott.

Hastings Pier Fire - Sunday Morning

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Why Move to Hastings?

Hastings Pier Fire - The Pier Shop Window

34, White Rock, Hastings:

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Mediation Support at Southwater Community Centre
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Hastings Pier Fire - The Phoenix Series - Keir Interviews 1, 2 & 3

Other pages on this blog:
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Action for Happiness -A Good Week
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Why Move to Hastings?

Hastings Pier Fire - Phoenix Taxis

Other pages on this blog:
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Mediation Support at Southwater Community Centre
Action for Happiness -A Good Week
Paul C -AKA Lend-It-All Man
Why Move to Hastings?

What is the problem in Hastings?

RE hastingspier - just received a call saying "Hang on, the pier isn't the problem we've got in Hastings". What do you think the problem is?
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How a "modest" door-knocker could raise £500,000 for HPWRT

The HPWRT YouTube videos builds my confidence in HPWRT as an organisation I'm willing to raise £500k for through doing a year's door-knocking, supported by a booklet of the same quality as that which karuna.org use. How come £500k; that's the five-yearly income based on people signing up for £10/month and I reckon I could get 5-6 sign-ups per night going out to about 3000-5000 selected Sussex houses over 200 days between October 2011 & October 2012.
UPDATE TO THIS BLOG POST:
PLEASE NOTE THAT I WROTE 'SUSSEX HOUSES'; many of the standing-orders will be signed by people outside Hastings & St Leonards, I reckon.
Nonetheless I have received the following feedback:

Paul, I've just read your blogspot on fundraising...

 

The HPWRT YouTube videos builds my confidence in HPWRT as an organisation I'm willing to raise £500k for through doing a year's door-knocking, supported by a booklet of the same quality as that which karuna.org use. How come £500k; that's the five-yearly income based on people signing up for £10/month and I reckon I could get 5-6 sign-ups per night going out to about 3000-5000 selected Sussex houses over 200 days between October 2011 & October 2012.

....please remember that Hastings/St Leonards is the poor end of East Sussex; 40% of E.Sussex's unemployed are resident here. In fact Hollington (north-end of St Leonards), is apparently the 6th poorest ward in the country, Social services have relocated long-termed unemployed from the London Boroughs (because of cheap housing) down here over the last 20-30 years.

 

What I am trying to say is that you are unlikely to get people to donate to the extent  that you are suggesting above, particularly in such an area of economic disadvantage, and that's to say nothing of the economic climate generally at the moment and the forecast for the medium-term.  If it was Brighton, a well-heeled town, it might be different.  I'm only saying this as I don't want you to waste your time and energies - they might better be directed elsewhere - sorry to sound like a killjoy.

message to the "arsonists"

There are a number of ways to send messages to the two individuals accused of the 5th October 2010 Hastings Pier arson. One very public way is via YouTube; tagging your video: "A message to the Hastings Pier Fire 'arsonists'". The more private way, based on award winning* work by Restorative Technology Ltd will be launched here and on my twitterstream (#hastingspier) by the end of October.
*www.jailbrake.org - see the video of our winning Restorative Justice Messaging work there.
Other pages on this blog:
Home
Mediation Support at Southwater Community Centre
Action for Happiness -A Good Week
Paul C -AKA Lend-It-All Man
Why Move to Hastings?

Paul Crosland's master blog

The blog where I summarise all my activities -and have more on Hastings & Restorative Justice- is:
www.additionalinfo.blogspot.com
Other pages on this blog:
Home
Mediation Support at Southwater Community Centre
Action for Happiness -A Good Week
Paul C -AKA Lend-It-All Man
Why Move to Hastings?

Mission Statement

- Support the (People's) Pier
- Build a Community that really shares & cares
- Generate a deeper justice in Sussex

Community Resources:

• Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust
  
• Lets All Share
• freelender.org
• Sussex Community Blogspot
• Sussex: Telling Time (Restorative Justice & mediation on-line)

Other pages on this blog:
Home
Mediation Support at Southwater Community Centre
Action for Happiness -A Good Week
Paul C -AKA Lend-It-All Man
Why Move to Hastings?