5th May Bird Bath
We gathered to celebrate International Dawn Chorus day by waking up to listen to the enchanting dawn chorus, followed by an eco-social breakfast banquet at St Peter’s Church hosted by us.
This event was part of Bird Bath, a creation of meditator and broadcaster Alistair Appleton (Mindsprings) and musician and ecoacoustician Alice Eldridge (University of Sussex). Bird Bath transformed beautiful buildings into restorative spaces by inviting attendees to pause, rest, and ‘bathe’ in the soothing sounds of local birdsong.
Throughout the first week of Brighton festival, St Peter’s Church in Preston Park opened its doors to the public, offering a sanctuary filled with the melodies of spring bird song recorded in local nature reserves and recovery sites. It was a serene and rejuvenating experience for all who attended. We were proud that Newhaven featured serval times on the recording.
We also hosted a field trip with local residents to visit the instillation on 10th May.
25th April A Soup and Social Special
We hosted a Soup & Social Special with Paris 68 Redux which was absolutely fantastic!
Attendees had the opportunity to hear about the captivating work of street artists Paris 68 Redux, the art of paste-ups and everyone had the chance to at create their own pieces.
The event was a roaring success, with participants eagerly anticipating the possibility of their creations being featured in an upcoming Look Again Supergraphics Festival in Newhaven June 2023.
The atmosphere was lively and engaging as everyone came together for a shared meal, sparking community conversations, and immersing themselves in the vibrant world of street art.
As ever it was free for all to join and a memorable and inspiring event.
Our 5th Sussex Women Supper Club the subject this time was Isobel Smith; a performance artist, sculptor, and therapist who lived and worked in East Sussex.
It was a Supper Club like no other. An invitation to explore Isobel's career to date and - who knows - you might have left inspired to stop, sniff, lick, roll, and rub up against your own life. It was a brilliant evening.
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2nd February - Road Trip to Towner
We enjoyed our all-expenses-paid road trip to the Turner Prize exhibition at Towner Eastbourne. We joined our curator-guided visit to the galleries and had a cuppa at a cafe afterwards to discuss what we had seen. The free bus ride to and from Newhaven was included, courtesy of our good friends at the BN9 Programme and Creative Newhaven (thank you very much!).
We hope to be bring more road trips in 2024 so stay tooned!
28th January - Soup & Social- Swap Share Repair
We teamed up with the Newhaven Green Centre and other local groups to put on a special event on Sunday 28th January.
We hosted a workshop for young people to help prep and cook the soup, plus two kids baking workshops. We then served the soup and cakes free to everyone at a special lunchtime Soup & Social at 1pm.
Information about timings and signing up was published here soon.
People brought unwanted clothes, gifts, toys, and other stuff and swapped it for other people’s unwanted goods.
Newhaven Green Centre ran their usual Repair Cafe as part of the event, and there were workshops throughout the day from their skilled repairers, as well as talks and live music.
Confirmed workshops included:
*Zip repairs
*Bike Maintenance
*Having a go on OVESCO’s energy-generating bike
*Clothes alterations
*Dealing with tears and stains on your clothes
*Basic soldering and wire cutting
There was a seed swap stall run by Greenhavens, Newhaven Uniform Bank was there (if you wanted specific items you were advised to order them in advance), OVESCO (for Energy Savings Advice), and Ouse Valley Climate Action.
The event took place from 11am-3pm at the Hillcrest Centre, with a free lunch served at 1pm. You knew the drill: free to attend, open to all, you were invited! Visit newhavengreencentre.com for all the timings and sign-up details.
25th December - A Very Hospitable Christmas
We started a new tradition with us a shared community meal on the 25th of December. As ever, it was free to attend and the invitation was open to all, but this time places were limited to 70 people to enable us to deliver a traditional sit down dinner with all the trimmings. (Of course, veggie/vegan options were available too!)
We gathered at the Hillcrest at 1pm for a traditional Christmas lunch served at the table with a wide variety of people, of all ages and background, from our local community and beyond. It was a brilliant day!
We were fortunate to receive funding for this event from the Lewes District Food Partnership, and The House Project, and the Hillcrest Community Centre allowed us to use the centre free of charge. We also received generous raffle and quiz prizes for our (free) after dinner entertainment, and Much Ado Books gifted a book to everyone who came.
7th December - Soup & Social Creative Newhaven Christmas Crackerthon
For our last Soup & Social of 2023 we were back in cahoots with Creative Newhaven, taking a look back over the year that was, and having a bit of a shindig with delicious food and drink. You know the drill: free to attend, open to all, you're invited!
23rd November - Smoke Sauna Sisterhood film screening
Having been blown away by seeing Smoke Sauna Sisterhood at Depot recently, we got in touch with the distributors and were delighted to bring the film to Newhaven for a special screening at the Hillcrest on Thursday 23rd November. A bit like The Nettle Dress earlier in the year, this film is an extraordinarily honest story of life, loss, comfort and belonging.
Thursday 9th November - Radiant Introvert Launch
We were delighted to bring some Soup & Social-style hospitality to the launch of Radiant Introvert - an installation by the artist Hanna Benihoud at Newhaven Library. We were joined on Thursday 9th November, at the library in Newhaven by a whole variety of people of all ages. We brought some delicious grub and the badge maker (we never go anywhere without it!).
29th October 2023 Stomp, Press & Crumble - a Soup & Social special
An interactive afternoon for all the family, pressing apples, making our own juice and eating apple crumble. We provided all the equipment and locally sourced surplus fruit for apple pressing, with people bringing their own garden apples in addition to juice and take home. Thanks to Lewes District Food Partnership for sponsoring this event and allowing us to borrow the equipment.
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Seotember 2023 - The Sussex Women Supper Club, Tirzah garwood.
The fourth chapter in our occasional series of supper clubs celebrating the lives of women and non-binary people who have lived and worked in Sussex. This time we heard about the life and times of the artist Tirzah Garwood from Sara Cooper, Head of Collections at Towner Eastbourne.
Timed to coincide with Towner's centenary celebrations and the Ravilious season of events in Newhaven over the summer.
10th August - Ravilious walkabout - a Soup & Social Special
More than 100 people joined us for our Following Ravilious: Newhaven Views Public Art Trail Community Walkabout. It was wonderful to welcome so many people to Newhaven and take them on a guided walk of the four billboard sites around the town. We started at The Sidings, walked on to Denton Island, then Dacre Road, before heading down the West Quay.
The sun shone, the swing bridge opened while we were on Denton Island, and the ferry came in right on cue as we enjoyed fish & chips on the lawn in front of The Hope Inn. Newhaven hospitality at its very best!
Thanks to Creative Newhaven and Dawn Langley of Alchemy Consulting for collaborating with us on this event. It is always great to work with like-minded partners.
29th Jule 2023 - Lammas
Our first community bread festival at the Hillcrest Centre. Together we made bread from our cob-built bread oven.
An afternoon of community connection and family-friendly entertainment, 2-6pm in the Hillcrest Carpark.
As always it was free to attend and open to all. Peopled stayed out late and join the Hillcrest for an evening gig with
performances from the fabulous Nick Pynn and The Kites.
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