Your Pride in Place Board
Hastings Pride in Place Board is the independent board responsible for guiding, prioritising and overseeing the Pride in Place programme on behalf of the local community.
The purpose of the Board is to:
Develop and deliver a long-term regeneration plan
Ensure the voice of local people shapes priorities and projects
Bring together residents and representatives from the public, private and community sectors to oversee how funding is spent
Ensure projects are delivered effectively and within budget
Support the three key objectives set by the Government: thriving places, stronger communities, and taking back control
The governance structure for the Pride in Place programme is designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and community leadership throughout the 10-year delivery period.
The Board is led by an Independent Chair and has been set up in line with guidance from the UK Government. It includes the local MP, a Hastings Borough Council Councillor, resident community members from across the town, and advisory members from key sectors.
Scroll down to find out more about each of the members, their role, background, and motivations for being on the Board.
The Board meets quarterly at venues across Hastings. These meetings take place face-to- face and usually last for around 2 hours.
Minutes from Board meetings as well as copies of the agenda and papers for the meeting are published on the Hastings Borough Council website.
Kevin was born in the Old Town in the 1950s and has lived in the town all his life. He joined British Rail on their graduate training scheme and spent over 20 years on the railway, in supervisory and managerial posts, leaving when BR was privatised. He then joined Hastings Borough Council in 1998 and retired in 2023 having worked in senior tourism, marketing and communications posts.
He is a keen railway enthusiast, and when not wearing his anorak enjoys photography and walking. He is a volunteer director at the Southeast Communities Rail Partnership, the Shipwreck Museum, the Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship Link and the Two Towers Trust; he chairs the latter, a local charity to raise funds to maintain the two mediaeval churches in Hastings Old Town. He is also a launch authority for Hastings RNLI lifeboat. He was a school governor, and chair of governors, for many years.
Kevin has five children and four grandchildren (and counting!), three of his children still live in the town, two having returned to Hastings having lived and worked in London for a number of years.
Kevin his proud of his local heritage - he and his siblings attended the same school that their Mum did, all five of his children went there and one of his grandchildren starts there in September. His nan’s brother, his great uncle, was cox of the Hastings lifeboat in 1940 and took it to Dover, for Dunkirk.
Kevin Boorman, Independent Chair
Helena is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Hastings and Rye.
She was born and bred in East Sussex, attended local state schools and spent her lockdown as a volunteer vaccinator in Hastings supporting the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Helena has a professional background in international development. Her work at Save the Children took her from refugee camps in Bangladesh to war zones like Yemen, where she stood up for the world’s most vulnerable children.
Now she is using that experience to stand up for Hastings and Rye, campaigning on issues like long ambulance waits and ending the dumping of sewage in our sea.
As the Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, Helena will fight for every resident of Hastings and Rye at Westminster to deliver a fairer, greener future for all.
Helena Dollimore, Member of Parliament
Julia is deputy leader of Hastings Borough Council and Deputy Leader of the Green Group of councillors.
She is also a county councillor for Old Hastings and Tressell and portfolio lead for Shaping Places, Assets and Local Government Reorganisation. Other roles include deputy chair of the LGA Policy Committee on Public Service Reform and Innovation.
She trained as a ceramicist at Edinburgh College of Art and worked in the field of public art before retraining as a landscape architect with a particular focus on play and working with communities, schools and housing associations to regenerate their green spaces.
Cllr Julia Hilton, Hastings Borough Council
Tony lives in the Alexandra Park area of Hastings but was born and bred in Hastings and originally comes from an Old Town family and for much of his life lived on the West Hill.
He has seen Hastings go through ups and downs over the years and believes that it is now a town that has enormous potential to be unlocked.
He is a retired Civil Servant, having worked for the Ministry of Justice and its previous incarnations since 1968. Over the years he has also volunteered as a School Governor (18 years) and has been involved in the non-uniformed side of scouting. Tony is currently a radio presenter on one local radio station and two international stations and together with a colleague runs a music promotions company.
Tony loves this town and believes that it can be a place of fairness and equality that offers something special, and in some cases, weird and bizarre, to residents and visitors. He believes we are, and should be, more than 1066, however important that is to the town.
He feels we need to create something lasting, especially for the young people of the town.
Tony Davis, Resident Member
Darryl lives in St Leonards and works for the National Trust in Rye at Lamb House.
After retiring, he also invigilated exams in local schools in Sussex. He is currently a member of The Bourne Theatre and the Hastings and Rother Rainbow Alliance.
His work experience over 30 years, includes managing neighbourhood partnerships in Barking and Bermondsey.
He has been commended for his role in bringing together different faiths and communities, especially in times when resilience and reconciliation have been needed.
Specialising in community development and social inclusion, he pioneered approaches to tackling hate crimes, working with the police and voluntary sector.
Darryl Telles, Resident Member
Frenchie lives on the West Hill and is deeply embedded in Hastings community life.
He is a Charity Trustee of Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green and a committee member of Hastings Winkle Club.
He is one of the town's Giant carriers, a member of Hastings Borough Bonfire Society, and a regular shanty singer.
Professionally, he runs Capstan Coaching, an accredited executive coaching practice drawing on 25 years of senior leadership experience across global banking and technology. He works with high-performing leaders to help them consistently perform at their best.
He joined the Hastings Neighbourhood Board because Pride in Place is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the town and he wants to make sure that investment is well-governed, shaped by the community and delivers lasting improvements that residents can see and feel.
Frenchie, Resident Member
Holly Paramor is a dedicated teacher and active member of the Hastings community, living in St Leonards-on-Sea since 2015.
Originally from Canada, she brings an international perspective and a strong work ethic.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Science with Honours, a Bachelor of Education, and a Mathematics Specialist Teacher certification, and has worked at the same local school since 2015.
Holly is passionate about supporting young people to build confidence and succeed. As the parent of a six-year-old daughter involved in various local clubs, she also brings a parent’s perspective to life in St Leonards.
She is committed to creating a brighter future for local youth and helping make Hastings a place people are proud to live, with opportunities that are accessible for all.
Holly Paramor, Resident Member
Isaac is an A-level student at East Sussex College Group Station Plaza, and currently lives in Gensing Ward.
He is incredibly passionate about Hastings, having lived and studied in the town his whole life.
Throughout this, he has maintained a keen and investigative interest into the systemic failings and oversights impacting ordinary young people - particularly in Hastings, a town that, as a consequence of these failings, increasingly few of his age group feel any reason to be proud of.
Through his role on the Board, he aims to represent the needs of the youth of Hastings, and ensure their interests are provided for every step of the way.
Isaac Solomon, Resident Member
Lewis was born and raised in Hastings and grew up in the Clive Vale area and went to primary and secondary school in Ore.
He still lives in Clive Vale with his wife Sophie and our son Seth who has AuDHD (Autism and Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder).
Lewis owns Fatboy's Barbershop on the High Street in Old Town where he provides specialised services for children with SEN (special educational needs).
He wanted to join Hastings Pride in Place Board because he feels as a local, as a parent and as a business owner he gets a good insight as to what people want to see improved in our town.
Lewis feels a great sense of pride in being from Hastings and he knows some people don't and he'd like to be able to change that.
Lewis Daden, Resident Member
Malaika works as a Senior Mental Health Practitioner providing mental health and wellbeing support to children aged 7 to 17 within Hastings and East Rother schools.
Having lived in the area for over two years she has had the opportunity to come to love what makes Hastings truly unique, from the Old Town to the community events like Jack in the Green and Pirates Day, to the historic buildings that hold so much of the town’s character and history.
Running a small business in the town has further deepened her understanding of how much people value Hastings and want to be part of the community, both as residents and as the growing number of people looking to relocate here.
Malaika joined the board as a community member wanting to represent children, young people, families and visitors as people who deserve permanent spaces and experiences that reflect the town’s independence, uniqueness and potential.
Her ambition is to help take back genuine pride and care in Hastings’ buildings, streets and public spaces, and to ensure that regeneration investment reflects and protects what makes the town special.
Malaika Scotney, Resident Member
Biography for Yasmin to follow.
Yasmin Ornsby, Resident Member
Adam has over 35 years of experience in the production and event management industry, managing conferences, trade shows, exhibitions, theatre shows, music events and tours in the UK, Australia, Europe, South East Asia and North America.
15 years ago Adam was a founding member of Hastings Fat Tuesday and is also co-owner of the Albion Pub in Hastings Old Town.
Adam Daly, Culture Advisory Member
Andy has worked in the retail & hospitality sector for 30 years and has been the Centre Manager of Priory Meadow Shopping Centre for the past six years.
During that time he has formed strong relationships with retailers, local businesses, and the community.
Andy sits proudly as the Chairman of Hastings BID and proactively immerses himself within all aspects of the town.
Andrew Harvey, Business Advisory Member
Darrell has been Director of Public Health for East Sussex since July 2018. He came to the county having been Acting Director of Public Health for five Unitary Authorities in Berkshire, where he previously led the public health and leisure departments in Wokingham Borough.
In East Sussex, Darrell has championed a focus on the inequalities in health that exist within the county and has focussed on addressing the causes of the causes of these through developing strong partnerships across sectors and communities and developed his team to both innovate and learn from all they do. He leads work across Sussex and the Southeast on Suicide prevention and has recently been awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate the work of activists in reducing suicides in San Francisco and Sydney so that learning can be applied to his leadership of multi-agency working in reducing suicides at Beachy Head.
His route into public health was through specialist training in London and Kent; having pursued a prior career across the voluntary sector; local government and the NHS working initially in LGBT sexual health, and more latterly across a wider range of public health issues. Originally trained in Architecture, this gives Darrell an almost unique background amongst his peers, and one where he surveys the broadest of horizons when looking at the determinants of health and brings the most creative approaches to problem solving.
Darrell Gale, Health and Wellbeing Advisory Member
Katy Bourne was raised and schooled in Sussex before graduating from Aberystwyth University. She still lives in mid-Sussex, is married to Kevin and has two adult sons. She was a successful business woman before entering politics and is now in her fourth term as Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Sussex making her the longest serving female PCC and one of only two to have been elected four times.
The PCC's role is to hold the Chief Constable of Sussex Police to account for the performance of the Force, effectively making the police answerable to the communities they serve. Katy is responsible for setting the strategic direction and priorities for Sussex Police through the Police & Crime Plan.
Katy is currently National Lead of the Association of Police & Crime Commissioners (APCC) portfolio for Business/Retail Crime and Chair of the Sussex Criminal Justice Board. She is also the APCC National Spokesperson for Stalking and a Board Director of the APCC. Katy was a former Chair and non-Exec Director of the national Police Digital Service and former Chair of the APCC. In June 2019 she was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of her public and political service.
Katy Bourne, Police and Crime Commissioner
Mandy has a background in History of Art & Archaeology (Africa and Asia) | PGCE Primary | PhD: Human Geography. She has over 20 years experience in delivering events and festivals in Hastings and Sussex.
Her organisation, 18 Hours, is driven by a passion for fostering global understanding through events, education and research. Her current portfolio consists of seven festivals including: St Leonards Festival, Hastings Storytelling Festival, Journeys Festival of Dance, Bexhill After Dark, University of East London After Dark, Streets of Wealden, and Sidley Festival.
Mandy's most recent research focuses on measuring attitudinal change in community light festivals, wider societal impacts of community festivals, and audience perceptions of performances augmented with haptic technology (in partnership with Falmouth University and Deaf Rave).
Mandy Curtis, Culture Advisory Member
Inspector Matt Chapman is the local Inspector for Hastings, responsible for the style and visibility of policing across the town. Born and raised locally, Matt is proud to serve the community he calls home and is dedicated to making Hastings a safer and more welcoming place to live and work.
Matt’s journey with Sussex Police began at just 14 years old when he joined as a Police Cadet in Hastings. He later volunteered as a Special Constable before becoming a regular police officer 11 years ago. Over the years, Matt has worked in a variety of roles across Hastings and East Sussex, progressing through the ranks of Constable, Sergeant and now Inspector. Before taking up his current post, Matt worked as a Critical Incident Inspector within East Sussex Response and Investigations, leading the police response to some of the county’s most serious incidents.
In June 2025, Matt became the Inspector for Neighbourhood Policing in Hastings. He now leads local teams focused on tackling community concerns, working with partner organisations, and improving safety across the area. Matt remains passionate about building strong relationships between the police and the public to make Hastings a place everyone can feel proud of.
Inspector Matt Chapman, Policing Advisory Member
Rebecca has worked across the education sector for over 25 years with a focus on inclusion and widening participation in schools, Further Education and Higher Education.
Rebecca was appointed at CEO & Principal at East Sussex College in 2020, and has since then supported a transformation in the college’s curriculum development, quality, financial health and reputation.
East Sussex College has a £60million annual turnover and supports over 5,000 young people and 10,000 adult students. The college is proud of the vital role it plays in community regeneration.
Rebecca is Chair of the Board of Trustees at South Downs Learning Trust and Chair of Further Education Sussex.
Rebecca Conroy, Education Advisory Member
Following a successful career in commercial banking, Sean is now the Deputy Chief Executive of Let's Do Business Group and Managing Director of its subsidiary, Let's Do Business Finance, which are two of the largest social enterprise business support and finance organisations across the South East and East of England assisting hundreds of micro and SME's to start, grow, prosper and access finance every year.
In addition, to his 'day job' Sean has helped head up the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce for the past 8 years, as Chamber Director, representing a diverse membership from start-ups and micro enterprises to some of the largest employers in the area, as well as community, voluntary, charity and public sector.
Through this role he has sat on a range of boards including the LSP, Town Deal, Connected Future, Hastings and Rother Task Force and many more.
Sean Dennis, Business Advisory Member
Steve is the Chief Executive of Hastings Voluntary Action (HVA).
This is the accredited Local Infrastructure Organisation for Voluntary Organisations, Community Groups, and
Social Enterprises offering a range of support services for not for profit organisations together
with training networking and representation.
Steve Manwaring, VCSE Advisory Member
Biography to follow.