Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green AWARDED NATIONAL LOTTERY FUNDING

Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green is delighted to have been awarded £30,000 through Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants. This will cover many of the costs of staging the event in 2026, allow us to build upon our community activities, and to share traditional May Day and Sussex customs widely with local people.

The local celebration is well-loved and enjoyed by around 20,000 locals and visitors each year. Over the May Day weekend there is a full programme of events, talks, workshops and performances, many of which are free.

Thanks to our funding, this year we are working with four schools, three libraries, several Scouts groups and many local community groups such as the White Rock Youth Theatre, the Fellowship of St Nicholas, Aspens, Playing the Race Card, and the Ukrainian Monday group and Saturday school. We'll be running workshops on ceilidh and morris dancing, traditional crafts, costume making and interactive storytelling.

We will be holding our first ever family ceilidh, and a special Sunday event with a focus on processional giants. Plus our usual singarounds, dances, concerts and family friendly workshops - this year with special quieter, SEND sessions added.

Our costs rise each year, especially since we have fully absorbed all responsibilities and costs of the West Hill event. We still greatly appreciate all donations, ticket and merchandise sales, and business support through greenery decorating and advertising - these ensure we can build resilience and keep the event happening longer term.

Chair Keith Leech said:

We’re delighted with this award, which was made possible thanks to funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England. We are really pleased that the importance of this significant traditional community event has been recognised. Funding is always an issue and this means we are able to keep it going another year.

Helena Dollimore MP, Member of Parliament for Hastings, Rye and the villages said:

It is fantastic that Arts Council England has awarded Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green £30,000 to support this year's festival. 2026 is a big year for Hastings, with the return of the Bayeux Tapestry to Britain in September shining a spotlight on our culture and tourism offer. Hastings wouldn't be the same without Jack in the Green and I'm glad it has been recognised in this way

National Lottery Project Grants is the Arts Council’s open access programme for arts, museums and libraries projects. The fund supports thousands of individual artists, community and cultural organisations thanks to National Lottery investment. National Lottery players raise over £30 million for good causes each week, funding arts, heritage, sports, voluntary and charity projects around the UK. Over £43 billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery began in 1994.

For more information, please contact: lorna.crabbe@hastingstraditionaljackinthegreen.co.uk

For general information on Jack in the Green, how to become involved as a volunteer or by supporting our event: www.hastingstraditionaljackinthegreen.co.uk

The link to the business supporters page, including advertising: www.hastingstraditionaljackinthegreen.co.uk/business-supporters

About the Arts Council:

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk

Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies administering the Government’s unprecedented £1.96 billion Culture Recovery Funds. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19.