Fancy Lunch?

As you will probably know by now, The Big Lunch  (http://www.thebiglunch.com) is a one day get-together for neighbours – a Lottery funded idea from the Eden Project, encouraging people across the UK to come together for a few hours of food, friendship and fun.  The initiative aims to create stronger, friendlier communities in which people start to share things, from conversation and ideas to skills and resources. 

Big Lunches can be big or small and take place in the street, back garden, park or local community venue – anywhere neighbours get together.  Since starting in 2009, thousands of events have taken place each year, with a staggering 8.5 million people participating in 2012 when The Big Lunch was an official part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.  The Big Lunch is inclusive and welcoming; it’s a fantastic opportunity to start new conversations in the community, bringing people from different backgrounds, faiths, and generations together. And research shows it works, with 91% feel closer to their neighbours following the event.

There has been wide spread support from town and parish councils to date, but we’d like to see further engagement in 2013. We know that the initiative creates more cohesive communities and can help with your community and housing strategies -meeting objectives around community engagement and integration. Research shows us that 82% of participants stay in touch with the people they met at The Big Lunch and 61% get involved in further community activity. An interesting report, based on four years’ research by the LGiU (http://www.lgiu.org.uk) will be available to councils soon.

What will you bring to the table?

Devizes Town council  (http://www.thebiglunch.com/partners/star-councils-england.php) encouraged people to get involved with the Jubilee celebrations in 2012 by hosting a free event on The Green. This was a true community event with a real village green flavour involving games and stalls echoing those from Queen Elizabeth’s Silver and Golden Jubilees.
 

The council opened up this event to all local businesses, groups and entertainers and road closures were simplified with all red tape cut.

Church Crookham Parish Council  (http://www.thebiglunch.com/partners/star-councils-england.php) proudly supported The Big Jubilee Lunch, organising its own event where people where people were invited to bring a dish and join in the Best Dressed Teddy Bear competition and admire the home made bunting created by local schools of all their Royal Easter Egg designs. The council actively encouraged people to hold Big Lunches on their streets, and waived all fees for road closures.

The Big Lunch has continued backing from  NALC (www.nalc.gov.uk), LGA (www.local.gov.uk) , DCLG (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government) and the Secretary of State Eric Pickles, who urge councils to support campaign, cut red tape around road closures and simplify the process as much a possible.

This year, The Big Lunch is celebrating the achievements of communities involved to date with The Big Lunch Community Awards. The winners of this UK-wide award will be selected and announced in April, and the initiative is set to generate lots of media attention in its fifth year.

Get involved! Please help encourage more Big Lunches in your area on Sunday 2^rd June 2013 by spreading the word to residents and local community groups and by supporting applications to close roads where possible. ‘Star Councils’ (http://www.thebiglunch.com/partners/star-councils.php) that go the extra mile to support the campaign are recognised on The Big Lunch website (http://www.thebiglunch.com/) and communications.  Council toolkits (http://www.thebiglunch.com/join-in/download-resources.php) with further information and promotional materials, including a ‘Little Steps’ workshop pack to help you organised meetings with the community to discuss the benefits of holding Big Lunches locally are available from the website. (http://www.thebiglunch.com/)

Anyone wanting to organise an event can order a free pack with invites, posters, a planner and much more online. There is also a short film to give you inspiration from the first four years of The Big Lunch. For more information please contact camilla.baker@thebiglunch.com or call 0845 850 8181.