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What it does
To promote, improve and advance education in, and appreciation of, the arts, in particular but not exclusively through the staging of an annual folk arts festival in Hastings including performance and promotion of English traditional dance forms (including Morris dancing and Jack-in-the-Green parade), traditional English folk music and song, folk tales, and their associated seasonal customs.
In its own words, from the Charity Commission's register of charities.
What its grants paid for
£89k in 2 published grants recorded
against Hastings between 2023 and 2026, from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
This is money awarded, which isn't always the same as money spent.
£79k from The National Lottery Heritage Fund
"Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green (HTJITG) revived in 1983 reimagining a 17th-century custom. Our work is community-led, with each generation developing the tradition in new directions. One of the UK's most loved May Day celebrations, we gather over 20,000 people from diverse communities annually and bring folk traditions and heritage arts to 2,000+ participants. With 6 inclusion partners, e.g. Eggtooth, Baird Academy, we’ll deliver 18+ workshops with neurodivergent young people, Ukrainian refugees, Black/Brown and LGBTQ+ communities, exploring our shared heritage. We’ll develop the tradition of processional giants, passing on giant-making skills to the next generation. We are introducing 400 young people to Morris dancing and testing enthusiasm for a Junior Morris side. This project is capturing, recording and preserving our history before those responsible for re-establishing Hastings’s annual greening retire; and the rich histories in their heads are lost."
awarded Thu 5 Mar 2026 · National Lottery Heritage Grants £10,000 to £250,000
· recorded against Hastings · The grant on GrantNav ↗
£10k from The National Lottery Heritage Fund
"Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green Fortieth Anniversary"
awarded Wed 8 Feb 2023 · National Lottery Grants for Heritage – £3,000 to £10,000
· recorded against Hastings · The grant on GrantNav ↗