THE BRIDGE UPDATE JUNE 2025

Due to rising costs in relation to National Insurance Contributions, Parchment Trust is no longer able to continue with its plans to open a third site at The Bridge.

Our journey

As a local charity, our ambition for The Bridge was to bring it back to life as the UK’s first community centre run by disabled people for the benefit of everyone. For our members, this would have provided a unique, supported environment for work and social opportunity.

Due to complications beyond our control, it took nearly 7 years to secure full ownership of the site. Once this was done in March 2024, we worked hard on bids and grants to renovate the site, but the larger funding opportunities became unavailable due to the election. We invested huge amounts of time and resource into the building with a view to getting it ready for an opening in 2025. This included tackling a large-scale moth infestation, renewing the fire equipment and intruder alarms and other essential works. We received a grant through the Hastings Skills Capital Fund (Funded by UK Government) and used it to develop a wonderful reception area, a skills suite and meetings room.

We were almost at the point where we could plan the final works and open the top floor, when we heard the news of the increased duties on employers for National Insurance and minimum wage. Along with other charities and state-funded Adult Social Care providers, we were hopeful that central government would step in with some sort of relief, but by April 1st 2025, it was clear that no such support would be forthcoming.

As one of Hastings’ largest employers, the impact of the National Insurance increase is considerable. As a direct result, Trustees have concluded that we have to let The Bridge go; the additional cost of running a third site is now too great. This was an extremely difficult decision after years of hard work and investment, but this is essential in order to keep our core charitable services safe.

What’s next?

We are now exploring options for finding a new owner for The Bridge. Our ideal scenario would be to find an organisation that shares our values and purpose of supporting better lives, with positive impact on people in and around the Hastings area.

We will continue to run wonderful services from our other two sites, where our dedicated team support the individual needs, hopes and ambitions of 180 disabled people every week. We will find ways to invest in these sites and create equally valuable, but different future opportunities for our members. We will continue to welcome the community into our plant nursery, Friary Gardeners, on The Ridge, so that everyone can connect to support better lives.

We will keep everyone updated on our website: https://www.parchment-trust.org.uk/the-bridge

And finally, we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped us with The Bridge and been so patient whilst we’ve worked on it. We are very sorry not to be able to continue, but hope you understand our reasons, and will join us in welcoming a new owner as and when they take occupation.

Warm regards

The Parchment Trust Team