The Mayor of Lewes, Councillor Imogen Makepeace, hosted a small Christmas Lights Switch-on event at Lewes Town Hall at the start of this year’s Lewes Late Night Shopping on December 5 2024.

She invited Zoe Smith of Lewes FC Women to do the honour of officially switching on the Lewes Christmas lights, along with two junior players from the Lewes Football Foundation as a way to say thank you for their contribution to the local community.

Residents and the players’ families braved the rainy weather as the Mayor and Ashley Price, President of the Lewes Chamber of Commerce, who organise the annual Late Night Shopping Event kicked off the Lewes Official Christmas Lights Switch On.

Welcoming the crowd, Councillor Makepeace said: “This switch-on also marks the opening of the nomination period for next year’s Civic Awards, which are Lewes Town Council’s annual way of celebrating the shining stars in our community who work tirelessly for the benefit of others, and can often go unnoticed.”

“I want to create the link between those who light up the community with their service and the bright Christmas lights at this event – and so I invited the new Lewes Football Foundation to join Zoe Smith, one of the stars of the trailblazing Lewes FC Women’s team, in officially switching on the Christmas lights this evening.

“Zoe joined the Rooks in 2022 after coming though the youth ranks in her home of Wales, providing an inspiration to the youth players of the Lewes Football Foundation. Tonight she is hitting the switch with Josh and Lucas from Lewes FC’s Under-13 and Under-11 teams, two of our stars of the future.”

The three players joined hands to hit the big red button and switch on the town’s Christmas lights for the evening. Lewes Town Council provides the Christmas Lights for the town, which this year have seen new designs adding festive cheer to the town centre.

Celebrating Lewes’ extraordinary community work is a key part of Lewes Town Council’s work, and the council are looking forward to learning about unsung heroes at next year’s Civic Awards.

Nominations for the Civic Awards can be made for individuals or groups who have provided long-term service to Lewes residents, or to individuals or groups who have created a recent but highly innovative and demonstrably impactful service.