Hastings woman walks across the UK dressed as house - this is why

Sarah Gomes Harris set off on August 7 and is set to return to Hastings tomorrow (Thursday, September 7).

Her walk is part of a campaign to raise funds towards setting up cooperative housing in the town.

Sarah is raising funds for Hastings Rental Health Housing Cooperative (HRHHC), which has plans to buy and renovate Gensing Manor in St Leonards, a former language school located on the corner of Dane Road and Charles Road.

HRHHC was set up during the pandemic to raise awareness and to campaign for affordable housing in the area.

This current campaign’s aims is to raise £10,000 to help the group write a business plan for the endeavour, with fundraising efforts set to conclude on Monday (September 12).

A spokesperson for HRHHC said: “Housing in Hastings is at an absolute crunch-point, with 1,500 families currently on the council’s housing waiting list and with emergency housing costing the local authority more than £2m per year.

“While HRHHC are aware that 22 homes won’t be the single solution needed, they do hope that their campaign can show others in the town the power of what can be achieved when the community rallies together. We need a radical response to the housing crisis in Hastings, one led with innovation and urgency.”

On the walk Sarah has been staying nightly with different housing co-ops and the route has so far taken her as far afield as Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol.

By the time she arrives in Hastings, Sarah will have walked more than 1,200km and visited 34 towns and cities across the country.

Sarah said: “This walk has been exhausting, but it’s not as exhausting as facing extortionate rent hikes or being evicted for no reason or at short notice. The fight against the crisis continues, but I hope our project can alleviate the burden of housing for some, we have to start somewhere.”

So far, the campaign has raised more than its £10,000 target, having raised almost £13,000 as of today (Wednesday, September 6) with the help of more than 180 donors.

The fundraising page can be found at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/hrh-co-op---walk-for-homes.