Kay Sexton

Nominated by Jane Moffatt

One of the best kept secrets in the city, Weald Allotments in Hove is a home-from-home for people of many different cultures. And for 15 years, Kay Sexton has been a proud allotment holder. An award-winning writer for The Sunday Times and Guardian, she devotes her free time to local initiatives at Weald.

In 2020, Kay brought together her passions for sharing food, eating healthily and tackling food waste by launching the Weald Community Fridge. Allotment holders as well as local businesses can donate fresh produce to the project, which is open every Thursday to the public, or delivered to people in need throughout the city every Sunday. It now reaches nearly 100 homes a week and was a lifeline for many during lockdown.

Recently, Kay also launched a monthly ‘Soup Sunday’, inviting elderly and isolated locals to enjoy a free mug of homemade soup and socially distanced chat in the fresh air. Not only are these get-togethers introducing people to tasty new recipes, they are also helping to create new friendships too. 

Kay now devotes up to 20 hours of her spare time a week to these projects, including coordinating a team of volunteers, sourcing food, scheduling deliveries and raising funds. In fact, it is schemes like these that have played a part in making Brighton & Hove a Gold Award Sustainable Food City. But more than this, it is people like Kay who have helped make the city a much kinder place, even in the most challenging of times.