Sat 12 Sept · Talk
Common Cause Talks
Sat 12 September · Harvey's Depot secret bar and theatre, Lewes
Doors 1pm, talks from 2pm, finishing around 5.30pm with a Harvey's Depot tour
Harvey's Brewery has a hidden theatre and private bar tucked inside their Depot in Lewes, and we're taking it over for our first ever Common Cause Talk.
Grab a pint of Harvey's from the bar and a pizza from Pat's Pizza truck, and join local producers, growers, chefs and food thinkers for an honest conversation about how our local food system works, where the opportunities are, and what Lewes and Sussex could build together.
Pat's Pizza will be serving from the truck outside from 1pm, and Harvey's bar will be open throughout. Pizza and beer return in the break.
The Panel
Steve Keegan, The Trevor Arms, Glynde
Steve took over the Trevor Arms in Glynde in 2025, transforming it into a freehouse rooted in local Sussex produce, from beer and wine to quality artisan food. With a background spanning Fuller's pubs in London, Brighton Beer Dispensary and Lakedown Brewery, and a directorship at Lewes FC, Steve and his partner Bethany have built more than 20 different hospitality businesses between them. The Trevor Arms is exactly the kind of model this conversation is about.
Robin Van Creveld, Community Chef CIC
Robin is a chef, educator, social activist and entrepreneur, and the founder and Managing Director of Community Chef CIC and Lewes Community Kitchen. Running community-based cooking and baking programmes since 2001, Robin opened the Lewes Community Kitchen on the Phoenix Industrial Estate in 2012, a hub for food education, community development and health promotion that has been quietly building the local food economy ever since.
Jacob Fodio Todd, Green Party Town Councillor and Chef
Jacob is a researcher working on modern energy cooking services, a Green Party Town Councillor and a trained chef. He previously founded and ran The Feature Kitchen in Lewes (2017–2022), a local food business championing community cooking, and is co-author of The Groundnut Cookbook (Food from Across Africa, 2016). Jacob grew up in Lewes, returning in 2016 after working across food, sustainability and international development in London, Paris, Norwich and Nairobi.
Sam Wilkins, Cellarman
Sam is a filmmaker, podcaster and storyteller specialising in the world of food and farming. Through Cellarman, he works with producers, dairies and makers to document the people, places and seasons behind great food, collaborating with names including Fen Farm Dairy and Westcombe. He brings a rare ability to translate the craft and values behind a product into stories that connect producers directly with the people who eat their food.
Hilary Schan, SCDA / Lewes District Food Partnership
Hilary is Senior Services Manager for Community Food at Sussex Community Development Association (SCDA), the organisation that houses the Lewes District Food Partnership. Working at the intersection of food security, community wellbeing and local food systems, Hilary brings deep practical knowledge of how food reaches, and fails to reach, people across the Lewes district, and what it takes to build something more equitable and sustainable.
Free to attend, but spaces are limited. Book your ticket before they go.