Blog | HFS - Part 5

Mark Thomas & Friends

21/05/2018H F SBexhill, Bridget Christie, charity, comedy, Daniel Kitson, De La Warr Pavilion, Friday 25th May 2018, fundraiser, Hastings, Jonny & the Baptists, Mark Thomas, Robin Ince, Shazia Mirza, St Leonards, Tiernan Douieb

Brilliant line-up of comedians perform to raise funds for HFS starter packs

We are really grateful to everyone who bought tickets to our fund-raiser on Fri 25th May. You helped raise funds to supply starter packs of essential household items for households in crisis and you were a lovely audience for our comedians.

Thanks to all the performers: Mark Thomas / Daniel Kitson / Bridget Christie / Robin Ince / Shazia Mirza / Jay Foreman / Tiernan Douieb

We are also grateful to all the local companies and artists that donated products for Goody Bags to thank our performers: Borough Wines, Beers and Books, Carr Taylor Vineyards, Claire Fletcher, the De La Warr Pavilion, The Hastings Lemon Ketchup Company, Hastings Old Town Rock Shop, Leroy Henry, Martel Colour Print, No Plastics Shop, Pea Crabtree, Peter Quinnell, Trinity Wholefoods and Wow and Flutter.

Read more about the event and our starter packs here.

Households in crisis need furniture

29/03/2018H F S@drfrancesryan, budget, campaign, cuts, east sussex county council, Frances Ryan, furniture, local welfare provision, social fund, The Guardian

We’re campaigning to reverse East Sussex County Council’s proposed cuts to the Discretionary East Sussex Support Scheme (DESSS). This local welfare provision scheme provides emergency help to households who are struggling, providing food, utilities or household furniture to those in need.

ESCC proposes to reduce the amount it spends on DESSS by 70% and stop providing household items such as beds, cookers and fridges. HFS has been proud to be part of delivering the scheme in Hastings and Rother, helping low-income households that are starting again after homelessness, escaping domestic violence, moving into independent living after care, or recovering from a crisis such as a house fire.

A survey on the proposed cuts has been set up by ESCC and can be completed online by anyone who has ever used the scheme. HFS is bringing this survey to the attention of all our customers who have been DESSS beneficiaries and is offering printed copies of the survey in both of our stores.

HFS featured in an article about this by Dr Frances Ryan in The Guardian.

The surveys are available on the County Council website.

Volunteers get into work

29/03/2018H F Semployment, learn, skills, volunteer, volunteering, work

Congratulations to our volunteers Sam and Mark (pictured in front of van) who have both been offered jobs at Combe Haven Holiday Park.

Sam has been volunteering at our Hastings store since the start of the year, and his eventual goal is to join the army. We wish him every success.

Mark, on the other hand, is not saying a final farewell to us yet, as he will continue to volunteer on the days when he’s not working at Combe Haven.

Looking for a route back into paid employment? Read more about volunteering with HFS here.

Bags of help!

07/02/2018H F Sbags of help, Bexhill, charity, confidence, experience, friendly, Groundwork, Hastings, help, join, support, team, Tesco, volunteer, volunteering

Thanks to hundreds of local Tesco shoppers for voting for HFS – we won £2,000!

The funds will help us support volunteers to gain skills, confidence and experience. A lot of our volunteers need support to take on their role with us and to build up towards moving on into training or work.

Thanks to your support we can help more people.

Our friendly team can’t wait to welcome more members!

Read more about volunteering with HFS.

Learn to love

06/02/2018H F Sadult education, course, free adult education, love decorating, romance, valentine

Our Decorating Skills course starts on 15th February, and Advanced Carpentry on 14th. You may not meet your Valentine at the HFS workshop but we reckon we can teach you how to love decorating!

With fantastic wallpapers donated by Brewers and tools from Trade Paints, the workshop is well-stocked. Tutor Ron can’t wait to share his tips and tricks for getting a perfect finish when you decorate a room. Choosing the right tools for the job, preparing walls and surfaces for decoration including painting and wallpapering. Learn how to hang paper, match patterns, trim edges, and work around objects like sockets and light switches.

The course runs for 4 weeks at our Bexhill workshop.

New Year courses

03/01/2018H F Sadult education, carpentry, course, courses, decorating, DIY, ESA, February 2018, free adult education, free courses, furniture painting, furniture restoration, January 2018, painting, practical, unemployed, universal credit, wallpapering, woodwork, workshop

There’s still time to grab a place on one of our New Year courses.

Whether you fancy trying carpentry for the first time, want to polish up your furniture restoration skills or learn how to put up wallpaper, our courses cover practical skills you can use at home.

We run supportive, friendly, small groups of adults so it’s easy to join in and enjoy the experience.

Read more here and enroll at an HFS store.

Workshop start dates from Jan 2018
Sessions are weekly for 4 weeks unless otherwise stated
Restore: furniture restoration	Weds 10th Jan
Recover: upholstery	Weds 10th Jan
Decorate: wallpapering skills	Thurs 15th Feb
Revamp: paint effects	Thurs 11th Jan
Woodwork: carpentry for beginners	Thurs 11th Jan
Woodwork: advanced carpentry	Weds 14th Feb
Read more here and enroll at an HFS store.

We’re back!

02/01/2018H F SBattle, Bexhill, furniture, Hastings, New Year, office furniture, open, recycle, reuse, Rother, secondhand, St Leonards

We’re back from our break and looking forward to helping you furnish your homes and offices in 2018.

Pop in to see us in Hastings or Bexhill:

Mon-Thurs 9.30-4.30

Fri 9.30-4

Sat 10-3

Happy Holidays!

22/12/2017H F SBexhill, charity, christmas, donate, Furniture store, Hastings, holiday, New Year, reuse furniture, Rother, secondhand furniture, St Leonards, store closure, team break, xmas

Our team will be having a well-earned seasonal break from 23rd December to 1st January.

We’ll be back on Tuesday 2nd January with our usual opening times.

We’re looking forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Vote for us!

10/11/2017H F Sbags of help, Battle, carrier bag tax, charity, christmas, December, free vote, good cause, grant, Hastings, help a charity, local charity, plastic bag, shop, St Leonards, supermarket, Tesco, volunteer, vote

If you shop at any branch of Tesco in Hastings, St Leonards or Battle, please take a token and vote for HFS to win some “bags of help” funding.

Voting runs through November and December 2017.

Help shape our Bexhill plans

25/10/2017H F Sarchitect, Bexhill, build, building, development. social enterprise, furniture, hfs store, improvement, London Road, planning, plans, regeneration, workspace

We are working on plans to redevelop our site in Bexhill.

We own the large site on London Road that used to be Russell’s Garage. It has the potential to offer much better facilities and more display space for our customers and our team, and to provide spaces for others to start up their own businesses, social enterprises or creative activities.

We are seeking the views of our community about these plans before we complete an application for Planning Permission, so do please let us know if you have any queries or concerns we can address.

The drawings will be on display in the windows at the store in London Road from 1st-4th November, with a special coffee, cake and chat event from 2-4 on Weds 1st November. You are welcome to comment in person or online, using the contact form below.

Click here to download the workspace hub plan drawings in one PDF document: download drawings