Lee Athwal

I was born and raised in Higham ward. It is where my daughter was raised and I still live with my husband and the wide network of family and friends that I’ve built up over the years.

I lived in London for 10 years when I worked as an IT Project Manager, in Financial Services in the City of London. I moved back to Tonbridge when I got married and worked at Fidelity investments in Hildenborough as a Project Manager. When my daughter started school, I wanted more flexibility so became a self-employed change consultant, working in a range of settings, implementing change in both commercial and charitable settings.

In 2010 I ran the Tunbridge Wells Winter shelter for a year, project managing the operation and working with the local council to find solutions for the homeless people that we served. In 2018 I co-founded FEAST, committed to providing free meals to families during school holidays. This continues today but has grown to include two Community Larders, distributing surplus and donated food to households on low incomes, currently around 130 households in Tonbridge every week.

I am Chair of Trustees for Ember Youth, an outreach charity working with teenagers in the Trench area of Tonbridge, and am among the few ladies to become a member of Tonbridge Lions.

I believe in social justice, community cohesion and using networks to improve our community. Social justice is so closely aligned with green policies – a greener world means a fairer world – and I would love the opportunity to use my time and energy to make a difference.