Halifax have generously managed to create 1,500 mini kits, containing bunting and balloons. If you want one of these kits please email thebiglunch@lloydsbanking.com with your name and full address including postcode.

These are available on a first come, first served, and one per household basis.  The offer ends midnight Friday 24 to give Halifax the chance to get these out to you in time.

A few of our celebrity friends were on hand to help us out, so keep your eyes peeled for chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, rugby ace Phil Vickery, and of course our London Street Party Ambassador, Barbara Windsor, to tell us what they are bringing to this year’s Big Lunch.

The advert is now being shown on BBC Live screens up and down the country at the following locations – why not find your nearest one and take a look!

•             Belfast – Donegall Square

•             Birmingham – Victoria Square

•             Bradford – Centenary Square

•             Bristol – Millennium Square

•             Cardiff – The Hayes

•             Coventry – Millennium Place

•             Derby – The Market Place

•             Derry – Waterloo Place

•             Dover – Market Square

•             Edinburgh – Festival Square

•             Leeds – Millennium Square

•             Leicester – Humberstone Gate

•             Liverpool – Clayton Square

•             Manchester – Exchange Square

•             Middlesbrough – Centre Square

•             Norwich – Chapelfield Plain

•             Plymouth – Armada Way

•             Portsmouth – Guildhall Square

•             Swansea – Castle Square

•             Swindon – Wharf Green

•             Waltham Forest, London – Walthamstow Town Square

•             Woolwich – General Gordon Square

And now we’re calling on our beloved Big Lunchers to help us make the advert go viral by circulating it to friends, colleagues and family, and supporting us to make The Big Lunch 2012 the biggest and best yet!

Don’t forget it’s not too late to organise your own Big Lunch – find our handy 10-Step guide here, or sign up for your FREE pack here.

As you will know it is now under a month until the big day, but don’t fret, there’s still plenty of time to gather all your materials and make lots of bright and beautiful decorations for your event!

Our Decorations Page is bursting full of crafty ideas to make for your Big Lunch. From colourful paper chains and lanterns, to customised tablecloths and bunting- we’re giving you all the tips you need to get creative.

Our friends at ScrapstoresUK have now made it even easier for you to create your bunting with their special Big Jubilee Lunch bunting pdf and their ‘Fabric for a Fiver Packs’ that include scraps of old materials for you to make your bunting flags.

Scrapstores have 90 stores across the UK, each one brimming full of old scraps waiting to be put to good use. They are making it easier for everyone to join in and get creative by visiting their local store to pick up their Big Jubilee Bunting Packs, as well as all sorts of other treasures to be found!

Every scrapstore is run by a small but committed group of people, many or all of which are volunteers. This is why the charity was created: to share the network’s knowledge, to support, connect and promote scrapstores with a common voice.

Big Lunch Bunting Competition
With all this talk of bunting, we thought it was a good time to remind you about our Big Bunting Competition We’re running a competition for schools, community groups and Big Lunchers right across the UK to find the longest single line of bunting made for The Big Lunch 2012. All you have to do is send the total length of bunting, along with a photo and your contact details by 30th June to camilla.baker@thebiglunch.com

To tell us about your lunch and show us your creative masterpieces, email yourstories@thebiglunch.com

Run by Voluntary Arts, the development agency for amateur arts and crafts participation, Voluntary Arts Week will take place e from 12 – 20 May, and is a great opportunity for you to prepare for The Big Lunch.

Why not hold a Big Lunch arts and craft workshop during Voluntary Arts Week, to get your preparations underway? You could run a bunting-making workshop, create table decorations or get a community choir together to rehearse some songs for your Big Jubilee Lunch.

Once Voluntary Arts Week arrives, the agency are asking everyone to display something in their window as part of our ‘What’s in Your Window?’ campaign. It could be anything that celebrates the art or craft form you love – a painting, a piece of knitting, a photo of you singing, even a simple sketch.

If you’re part of an arts or crafts group, why not contact your local community centre, library or shop to see if you can display your work in their window? Imagine how great it could look – houses, shops, offices and public buildings all across the UK, all with wonderful arts and crafts in their window for one special week!

Voluntary Arts Week is also encouraging arts and crafts groups to run events to highlight their activity and get more people taking part. You could:

 • Run a taster session for new people to have a go

 • Hold an open rehearsal to show what you’re working on

 • Host a special exhibition or stage a special performance

 • Take your art/craft form out into the public place (such as a shopping centre or bus station) 

You can list your event on the Voluntary Arts Week website and download posters to let people in your local area know how to get involved. For more information, along with advice on how to organise an event, please visit www.voluntaryartsweek.org.uk or email info@voluntaryartsweek.org

With the first batch of Big Lunch Packs sent out to Big Lunchers across the UK, many of you will have already spotted our fab new bunting template. The perforated sheets make homemade bunting even easier to create, and also contain some handy tips and ideas to inspire you.

With 117 days to go until your Big Lunch, get a head start with your Big Lunch decorations by learning how to make homemade bunting following our 3 simple steps to success!

STEP 1
Pop out the Big Lunch Bunting template (or mark out a triangle about 16cm x 22cm x 22cm), pin it to your fabric and then cut around it. Repeat until you have enough flags.

Top Tip: When cutting your fabric use pinking shears instead of scissors. This helps to prevent the edges of your fabric fraying.

STEP 2
Evenly space the flags along a length of bias binding tape, string or even old shoe laces – fold the shortest edge over and pin in place.

Info: Bias tape or binding is a narrow strip of fabric handy for finishing off rough edges of fabric. You can find it in various colors and sizes in your nearest sewing shop or large supermarket.

STEP 3
Sew on the flags with a straight stitch, leaving at least 40cm of tape free from flags at each end for hanging.

REMEMBER: Bunting can be made from almost anything – recycle scraps of fabric, old clothes or even old tents! Check out the video on the ideas section of our website, for a step- by- step guide to transform your old plastic bags into funky bunting.

The Big Bunting Competition
Making mountains of bunting? We’re running a competition for schools, community groups and Big Lunchers right across the UK to find the longest single line of bunting made for The Big Lunch!  Simply email the length of your bunting, with your name and address to Camilla.baker@thebiglunch.com for the chance to win some fabulous prizes. The brighter, busier and more decorative the better – so send us your photos too!

This is Martock Road in Bedminster, captured two days before the street party in south Bristol. Wonder what it looks like today?

View Larger Map

My own street didn’t exist back then, but if you’ve got any old photos of a street party from the Silver Jubilee, please post them on Flickr, and add them to The Big Lunch group.

Oh, and by the way… let me know if you plan to hang bunting for your own Big Lunch?