Welcome to Meads Hall
Connecting Meads and the Eastbourne community together all under one roof.
Welcome to Meads Hall
Connecting Meads and the Eastbourne community together all under one roof.
About Us
Meads (Eastbourne) Community Centre (MECC) is a charity established with the aspiration of acquiring and operating St John’s Parish Hall for the benefit of the people of Meads, Eastbourne.
The PCC of St John’s announced its wish to dispose of the hall at the end of 2022. The site was originally gifted by the Duke of Devonshire in the 19th century for use as a school. The current hall, built in 1926, was managed by St John’s church and used for educational and community activities. After nearly a hundred years of community service, the hall was in a poor state of repair.
The Meads Community Association established a steering group focused on ways to save the iconic hall. They established the CIO, Meads (Eastbourne) Community Centre, (MECC) in late 2023. The Trustees’ main objectives were to secure the transfer of the hall and find ways to restore it to its former glory for the Meads community to enjoy.
MECC successfully applied for a government Community Ownership Funding (COF) grant of £450,000 subject to being able to raise £100,000 in matched funding. The hall was transferred to MECC on 27th September 2024 on a 99-year lease at peppercorn rent. This allowed building works to commence in October 2024 with a planned re-opening of the hall in mid-February 2025.
The rebranded Meads Hall Eastbourne looks forward to welcoming back the Meads community and its visitors for many years to come!
To view the hall before the restoration works started, click here.
Support for MECC
Local residents
Over 850 signatures to an online petition run in 2023
Packed Hall for public meeting and fundraising events
Cash donations and pledges made
Hall users
Bees Knees Dog Training
Eastbourne Art Class
Eastbourne Barn Dancing
Eastbourne Silver Band
Meads Art Circle
Meads Makers Markets
Perform
Pilates
Seven Sisters Camera Club
Monday Lunch Club and Coffee Pot volunteers
(Plus groups wishing to use the hall under new management)
Meads traders
Including the following who have actively helped so far:
The Ship public house
Chapman Wine Merchants
McGregor Lettings
Officials and Organisations
Eastbourne Member of Parliament – Josh Babarinde
Former Eastbourne & Willingdon MP – Caroline Ansell
County Councillor for Meads – Brett Wright
Borough Councillors for Meads – Jane Lamb, Andy Collins
(and our Chairman, cllr Robert Smart)
Eastbourne planning and conservation officers
The Compton Estate
Meads Community Association
The Eastbourne Society
Meads Village Allotments
Friends of Meads Parks and Gardens
St Johns Bowling Club
Meads Women’s Institute
Funding and Grant bodies
Community Ownership Fund
The John Jackson Charitable Trust
The Williams Trust
Eastbourne Borough Council (devolved budget)
News
Public meeting update on 21st September 2024
At our public meeting on Saturday 21st September we shared several pieces of good news –
- We have signed a long lease with St John’s church securing the hall for the community with 99 year lease at peppercorn rent
- The government’s Community Ownership Fund (COF) has already transferred £233,000 to MECC’s bank account as we could prove that we had received 46% in matched funding
Works will commence on 7th October starting with the roof
We are delighted with our progress. Getting this far only possible because of the donations we have received from the community so far and we are so pleased to share the other good news that the John Jackson Trust will give us £20,000 which means we can get another £80,000 from the COF grant. This will be enough for us to pay for all the external work before the winter sets in.
To get the remaining 24% (£137,000) of the COF grant, we need to raise £34,000 in matched funding. This will enable us to have new toilet facilities, a new kitchen, improve external access for wheelchair users, decorate the hall internally and generally improve the facilities on offer in the hall.
All donations are gratefully received. Should you find that you are able to donate over £1,000, your sponsorship to save the hall will be commemorated on a sponsorship plaque. Please refer to our Donate page for payment options and gift aid form.