A COMMUNITY activist known as Mrs Whitehawk is to receive a blue plaque.

Faith Matyszak will be commemorated at Robert Lodge, in Whitehawk Road, Brighton, on August 30.

The Robert Lodge Project was one of her many triumphs – a community hub that she helped create some 25 years ago in a neglected area underneath flats.

Friend Zena Barton said: “Those who knew her do not want her forgotten for all that she did.”

Mrs Matyszak was made an MBE by the Queen in 2002 for her volunteer work in the community.

It was one of many honours over a long life of fighting to improve the lives of others.

She was a single mother and raised her four children in Whitehawk.

As well as working tirelessly for the community she helped fight for racial equality and women’s, tenants’ and workers’ rights, among other causes.

She continued her community work until shortly before her death at the age of 83 in 2015.

Mrs Matyszak was a nurse at the Royal Sussex County Hospital between 1967 and 1996 and was a long-standing and committed member of the Labour Party.

She was given a national merit award, the party’s highest honour, in 2002.

Such was her popularity on the estate, youngsters from Whitehawk’s Crew Club raised £70 to buy her a replica MBE that she could wear day to day after she received the honour from Prince Charles.

She said at the time: “I was asked if I minded them buying me a replica and I burst into tears.

“I feel incredibly proud of them for all they have done.”

After her death, Whitehawk community development worker Tony Silsby said: “She had this passion for people and a fantastic way of being able to communicate.

“She was well known for doing the right thing.

“If she felt something was right, she would not let go.

“And councillors knew that if they didn’t call her back, she would call again.

“You did not ignore Faith.”

Councillor Mary Mears gave the eulogy at her funeral.

She said: “Faith was a doer – one of those people who leads from the front and says come on, this needs to get done.”