Sorry everyone. Creative Gossips on
Sunday, 2nd November has been postponed.
We'll update this page with a new date as soon as possible.
shape
of the
sea
SORRY, THIS EVENT
HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Creative
gossips
is back!
The invitation to Gossip is out
​Rebecca Sinker, citizen scientist and Clean Water Action-ist, has called a Gossip.
​
Inspired by testing seawater with CWAG and supporting refugees through The Refugee Buddy Project, Rebecca is inviting us to a Creative Gossip to explore our connections with water, looking beyond the headlines of pollution and small boats.
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The subject: The Sea
The question: How do you feel about it?
The answer: Only you can provide...
​
Come and share your own experiences and stories of the sea on our doorstep and beyond.
Gather around the things that matter
​Creative Gossips are relaxed, community-called conversations hosted by Afri-Co-Lab.
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By bringing our knowledge, experiences and ideas together, we can share wisdom, raise issues, spark change and strengthen connections. Whether you’re full of ideas, keen to tackle a tricky issue, or simply want to connect with others, these gatherings are about building community power through the simple act of speaking and listening.​
ABOUT
GOSSIPs
who can gossip?
Creative Gossips is open to all. Come along, listen, share your voice and help shape the conversations that matter in our community. ​Everyone’s welcome.
Postponed until further notice
Shape of The SeA
called by Rebecca Sinker
We’ll begin on the shoreline with the sounds of the sea, then gather by the campfire to share our experiences and weave together a collective wisdom of the waves.
MEET REBECCA
Rebecca Sinker is a keen sea swimmer, a Hastings resident since 2017 and a member of the Clean Water Action Group (CWAG) since 2022. Her day job, for over 30 years, has been curating and producing arts education and museum learning projects both as a freelancer and at organisations including the Photographers Gallery, the British Library, The Institute of International Visual Arts and Tate. She has managed the Refugee Week creative actions programme for the Refugee Buddy Project in Hastings + St Leonards (2022 - 2024). She has just published a co-edited collection called "Challenging Contemporary Thinking on Play" (Springer 2025). CWAG is a community group of volunteer citizen scientists, living in Hastings & St Leonards, monitoring our seawater for quality and cleanliness with regular Environmental Water testing and research. Together we raise public awareness, track the performance of Southern Water and lobby local and national Govn’t bodies and agencies, feeding into and sharing evidence-based information.
WHY GOSSIP?
What’s in a Name?
The word gossip has an unexpected history. It comes from Old English godsibb (God + sibb, meaning relative) and originally meant godparent, spiritual guide or trusted companion. It described midwives and women friends, with no negative meaning at all.
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Women once gathered to share wisdom, knowledge and support around life’s important moments. But as society sought to control women’s influence, these gatherings became targets. During witch hunts and trials, the word gossip was twisted into something negative and dangerous.
We’re reclaiming it!
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Our Creative Gossips sessions return gossip to its original meaning: friends gathering to share wisdom, build community strength and support one another.
Everyone is welcome to join these conversations, where we create meaningful connections and strengthen our community to answer the questions that matter.
want to call your own gossip?
Look out for our open call, where we’ll be inviting you, our local community, to call a Gossip.
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It can be about anything that matters to our community. If your idea is chosen, the Afri-Co-Lab team will support you to make it happen. Full details will be shared when the open call goes live.