On 18 May 2023 Dr John Kay of the Lewes History Group, and the Ringmer History Study Group, was given the Outstanding Individual Contributor Award for 2023 from the British Association for Local History (BALH).

This prestigious honour is awarded to a local historian who has made a significant voluntary contribution to the subject in their locality and John certainly fulfils the criterion.

John Kay has unstinting enthusiasm and wide local knowledge, past and present, of both Lewes and the environs. He was especially singled out for his 40 years of producing monthly bulletins for first Ringmer History Study Group, then Lewes History Group too; the co-founding of both societies; arranging monthly talks; his responding usefully to other researchers’ enquiries from around the world; as well as his many other voluntary roles in the community, including Chairmanship of Ringmer Parish Council from 2010 to 2016.

Prior to his retirement, Dr Kay was a Reader in Biochemistry at the University of Sussex, Associate Dean of the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and previously the Director of the Centre for Medical Research. Living in Ringmer with wife Anna, he is also a published author in both history and biomedical journals.

Congratulations to John on being presented with this major award.

John Kay