Welcome to Meads Hall
Your local community hub in Eastbourne – home to classes, events, and hall hire.
About Us
Meads Hall has been at the heart of this community for nearly a century – originally gifted by the Duke of Devonshire in the 19th century, and home to generations of Eastbourne residents ever since.
When St John’s Church announced plans to dispose of the hall in 2022, local residents refused to let it go. A steering group formed, a charity was born, and a campaign began to save an Eastbourne institution.
The effort paid off. MECC secured a £450,000 government Community Ownership grant, raised £100,000 in matched funding from local supporters, and took on a 99-year lease in September 2024. Restoration works began almost immediately – and Meads Hall reopened its doors to the community in early 2025.
This hall belongs to Meads. And now, it always will.
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
Meads traders
Including the following who have actively helped so far:
The Ship public house
Chapman Wine Merchants
McGregor Lettings
Sussex Audiology Centre
Brewers Decorator Centres
Lightning Fibre
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
Eastbourne planning and conservation officers
The Compton Estate
Meads Community Association
The Eastbourne Society
Friends of Meads Parks and Gardens
St John’s Meads Bowls Club
Funding and Grant bodies
Community Ownership Fund
The John Jackson Charitable Trust
The Williams Trust
Eastbourne Borough Council (devolved budget)
The Duke of Devonshire Charitable Trust