Lucy Neal

Lucy Neal is an artist producer, writer, broadcaster, celebrant and community activist.

She is currently director of the Mary Neal Project, bringing to light the undertold stories of Mary Neal and Somerstown sewing girls of The Espérance Club. Mary Neal CBE was Lucy’s great great aunt.

Lucy is an initiator of Transition Town Tooting, a creative collective response to peak oil and climate change at grass roots level looking at resilience building and practical activism.

Lucy works with a range of international arts organisations and also as a secular celebrant marking key moments in people’s lives. Co-founding director of the London International Festival of Theatre from 1981-2005, she received an OBE for her services to drama in 2005. She is co-author with Rose Fenton of The Turning World, published by the Gulbenkian Foundation (2006) and is a Research Associate at The University of Winchester.

As a regular year-round swimmer at the Tooting Bec Lido, she has recently staged events there including Dive-In Movies (2006), an open air season of swimming films, and the opening ceremonies for World and UK Cold Water Swimming Championships (2008 and 2009). She is married to cameraman Simon Maggs. They have four daughters and live in South London.