Brighton and Hove to Host First Care Leavers Christmas Dinner in Seven Years, and Needs Your Help
Supporters with the runners at a fundraising run for the Brighton and Hove Care Leavers Christmas Dinner
Brighton and Hove is set to hold its first Care Leavers Christmas Dinner in seven years, on Christmas Day 2026, and the two Brighton residents behind it are asking for help to finish funding the day. The dinner is for care experienced young people aged 18 to 30 who have left, or are leaving, the care system, and it is being organised with care leavers, volunteers, local businesses and Brighton & Hove City Council.
Richard Hubbert and Jamie Crabb, who is care experienced himself, say the venue has been donated and a professional chef has been secured. What they still need, they say, is donations of money, food and gifts so that every guest can go home with a present and the feast can be as generous as possible.
Sources: Brighton & Hove Care Leavers Christmas Dinner website, the organisers’ press release of 8 October 2026 and their volunteer update of 16 October 2026
What is planned for Christmas Day
The organisers say the day is meant to be much more than a meal. They describe a festive dinner, gifts, activities and companionship, in a space where young people feel welcomed and part of a wider community, with connections that carry on after Christmas.
They say it has been planned with care leavers rather than for them. Ideas from the Brighton & Hove Care Leavers Forum, they say, include accessibility, transport, quiet spaces, food, entertainment and a day that is inclusive for everyone. One favourite idea from young people, according to the organisers’ June update, was a pampering session just before the dinner, with nail styling, haircuts and massages.
“As someone who is care-experienced, I didn't fully anticipate how emotionally affecting it would be to feel so much warmth and kindness from family and friends to help us realise this event. Care leavers deserve not only services or systems, but thoughtfulness, celebration, belonging, joy, community, warmth and most importantly care.”
“We have been blown away by how many people have run events to help us get this far and now we just need this final push to get us to our goal.”
Jamie Crabb, co-organiser
Where the money stands
The organisers say they have raised over £2,500 and need a further £2,500 in gifts, food or funds. They have set a fundraising ambition of about £5,000. The dinner’s page on Open Collective, which publishes how the money is raised and spent, showed the following on 18 October 2026.
Source: Open Collective, Brighton Care Leavers Christmas Dinner, as shown on 18 October 2026
Donate on Open CollectiveEvery contribution is recorded publicly, so you can see how the money is spent50 Fairies in 50 Days
The headline campaign is called 50 Fairies in 50 Days. The idea is simple: 50 people each raise £50 in whatever way they like, and every pound goes into one shared £2,500 pot. The organisers say £50 is an invitation rather than a pass or fail, so if you raise £23, that £23 still counts.
The organisers’ fundraising page counted 5 of 50 fairies and £300 of £2,500 on 18 October. You can become a fairy on their fundraising page.
From a long conversation to Christmas Day
The organisers say they have around 35 volunteers in teams of elves, with decorating, catering, wellbeing, activities, gifting, outreach and communications teams, plus the fundraising fairies. They say the teams have been working with members of the care leavers forum on four guiding principles: be interested in the person, embody kindness, warmth and openness, put culture first and task second, and be one team with one celebration.
Why the dinners exist
Brighton’s dinner follows a model that began with The Topé Project, which Shalyce Lawrence and Jerome Harvey-Agyei co-founded in memory of their friend Topé to bring young care leavers together on Christmas Day. According to the Children’s Commissioner’s website, the first year welcomed 75 young people and the second year 150, before the project published a how-to guide so others could run their own. Poet and broadcaster Lemn Sissay then set up the Gold from the Stone Foundation, which supports volunteers across the UK to run Christmas Dinners.
Source: Gold from the Stone Foundation, The Christmas Dinners. The organisers’ press release quotes an earlier total of 155 dinners in 35 towns and cities reaching 7,500 young people.
The government published an independent review of early deaths of care leavers on 25 August 2026. The Department for Education says it found care leavers are profoundly isolated, with a sharp drop in support at 18, and that 112 deaths of care leavers aged 18 to 24 were notified to it in 2025. You can read the department’s announcement on GOV.UK. The organisers’ press release says Christmas can be a lonely and isolating day for young people without a family or a fixed home.
How you can help
To get in touch with the organisers, email hello@brightonxmasdinner.com, follow @brightonxmasdinner on Instagram or visit the dinner’s website.
Brighton & Hove Care Leavers Christmas DinnerThe organisers’ website, with news, fundraising and contact detailsIf you are a care leaver
The dinner is for people in the Sussex area aged 18 to 30 who have left or are leaving the care system. The organisers say anyone who would like to come should contact the Brighton and Hove Care Leavers team, or email hello@brightonxmasdinner.com for the registration form.
Thursday 12 November: National Care Leavers Month celebration
The dinner team is also helping to bring together a National Care Leavers Month celebration in Brighton, called Leading The Way: From Experience to Empowerment. The organisers say it is being held with the Brighton & Hove Care Leavers Forum, the city council and community partners. Find the details on the organisers’ event page. More events for the weeks ahead are in our Brighton and Hove events guide for November and December 2026.
What happens next
The organisers say they are working towards Christmas Day, with the volunteer teams planning the menu, decorations, activities and gifts, and the fundraising still open. The council is also asking residents about inequality and life chances in the city, as we reported in Residents Invited to Share Their Thoughts on Inequality and Life Chances in Brighton and Hove.
Sources
- Brighton & Hove Care Leavers Christmas Dinner: official website
- Brighton & Hove Care Leavers Christmas Dinner: press release, 8 October 2026
- Brighton and Hove Care Leavers Christmas Dinner: news blog, May to October 2026
- Open Collective: Brighton Care Leavers Christmas Dinner
- Gold from the Stone Foundation: The Christmas Dinners
- Children’s Commissioner for England: Setting up a loving space for care leavers to combat loneliness at Christmas
- Department for Education: Every care leaver to have someone in their corner after review, 25 August 2026
More local stories are under Brighton and Hove and Events on ImJustBrighton.
Read more from ImJustBrighton
Brighton and Hove Events in November and December 2026
Residents Invited to Share Their Thoughts on Inequality and Life Chances in Brighton and Hove
