“We wanted to hold our Big Lunch in our street, but decided to hire our local community hall just in case it rained on the day – this was just as well as it rained nearly all day and night! We went to the village hall during the day and held a BBQ in my neighbour Sue’s garden the following night.  This actually turned out better than we could have planned it as we were all so tired after the first event in the afternoon that we could all chill before the BBQ on the following day!

We had simple games like welly throwing and themed quizzes. We had colouring sheets, join the dots etc in the themes, we had old photographs from 1952 etc. We also had balloon modelling crown competition which was really successful. We had simple prizes of chocolate bars.

Our street is made up of new-build houses in a well established village so we got the chance to all get together as a “new street” and meet neighbours, families and children.

It’s fab to get together with friends, family and neighbours and is really fun to organise. We all have a really good time and feedback is always amazing. There is always a sense of achievement alongside the exhaustion afterwards!

This was our first official Big Lunch event but we will certainly do this again in the future. Sue has already run a Christmas get together in a local golf club and holds rugby events at her home where there are always welsh songs sung and welsh costumes and rugby shorts worn. Although these are not an official Big Lunch event, it is the same people attending and a great opportunity to get together.”

Top tips:

• Send an email or invitation around first asking who is interested – loads of time in advance.
• Important to plan lots in advance and to delegate – including setting up and clearing away!
• Use local suppliers wherever possible and all make you own things to bring along.
• Co-ordinated so those who can’t cook bring crisps etc – use people strengths.

“Dear Big Lunch

I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for my prize! We had an amazing time and it is something me, my mum, cousin and brother are going to remember for the rest of our lives.

The hotel was incredible and  definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We really enjoyed the indoor and outdoor pools and the Jacuzzi :)

The breakfast was really yummy and on our second morning a helicopter landed in the field outside our window…It was so exciting!

The Eden project was incredible! It was beautiful, and so educational. And again, it was a once in a lifetime experience and something I will always remember.

On our last day our car broke down, but luckily the hotel let us use their pool after we checked out while we were waiting for a recovery truck. As it took all day to fix, we decided to stay another might and ended up in a hotel just opposite the Carlyon Bay Hotel for the night!

Despite the car breaking down, it was still an amazing holiday and I would really just like to thank you so so much from all of us!

Abbey xx”

Fancy a Break?

Check out the Eden Project Breaks website to find out more about packages and offers available. Sign up to their newsletter too and you will be entered into a competition to Win a 3* break!

Events were held right across the UK on Sunday 3^rd June – from the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides to the Isle of Wight, and from Hillsborough Castle in County Down to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. 

In London’s Piccadilly, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (who is Patron of  The Big Jubilee Lunch – part of this year’s Diamond Jubilee events programme) joined hundreds of people getting together for a public Big Jubilee Lunch.  The Duke of York, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie visited two lunches in West London, while Prime Minister David Cameron attended a lunch hosted by Downing Street. 

As in previous years, the tens of thousands of Big Lunches took many forms, from traditional street parties to picnic lunches in back gardens or local parks.  Lunches ranged in size from private gatherings to larger public lunches for thousands of people.

Our Director, Peter Stewart, said: “From a simple idea out of the Eden Project in 2009, The Big Lunch has really captured the nation’s imagination this year, bringing together neighbours to share lunch and a few hours of community, friendship and fun. 

“I hope that those Lunches that were held to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee will have acted as a catalyst for people creating lasting friendships with their neighbours and starting other community-based activities, such as babysitting circles, reading groups and helping elderly neighbours with everyday chores.”

If you haven’t taken part in a Big Lunch yet, make sure you get involved in next year’s event which will take place on Sunday 2^nd June 2013.  Get inspired!  Read stories about this year’s Big Lunch here.

Keep in touch, sign up to The Big Lunch newsletter and be the first to find out when next year’s FREE pack becomes available. 

*Havas Sponsorship Insights

As part of the Focus on Enforcement campaign, the BIS want to know which areas need to be improved upon, and to give credit where credit is due if someone has been really helpful. They want to hear how the way regulations are enforced can be improved, reduced or done differently.

So whether you dealt with paperwork from your local council or asked them for some advice on organising your Big Lunch, the BIS want your opinions to be heard!

Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk said:

“Volunteers are the unsung heroes of communities in this country. But dealing with the way rules are enforced can sometimes be more of a problem than the red tape itself – no one volunteers to be a bureaucrat. So, whether it’s an inspection by someone who won’t listen or having to fill in the same form twice – we want to hear about it.”

The campaign allows comments to be posted anonymously, and you can also share your ideas for future reviews, about enforcement you would like to be scrutinised in a future review and why.

Find out more and voice your thoughts here.

Welly-wanging

A simple, old-fashioned game of welly-wanging will bring out the competitive streak in everyone to see who can sling their Wellington boot the furthest. Guinness World Records state that the current record holder managed 63.98m – can you beat that?

Wacky-weather outfit competition

Channel your inner fashion guru and see who can assemble the most stylish waterproof ensemble – or who can look the most ridiculous in the rain!

Welly decorating

Get everyone’s creative juices flowing by decorating your wellies with whatever takes your fancy! Our favourites are sequins, feathers and glitter, but with glue and scissors you can adorn yours with pretty much anything. Or if you’d rather your wellies stayed firmly on your feet, you could decorate your umbrellas!

Singing/dancing in the rain

Take inspiration from Gene Kelly (or the cast of Glee with their modern mash up!) and don’t let the rain stop you from putting on a show! Either recreate the famous number from Singing In The Rain, or let the raindrops add an edge to your Big Jubilee Dance.

Slip and Slide

This is a quick, easy way to ensure maximum fun for your Big Lunch. Create your own Slip and Slide with plastic tarps and some bags of sand (or anything heavy enough to hold down the slide) and make sure the area is clear of rocks and stones – for more inspiration, check out YouTube for some how-to videos. Grab your lilos and rubber rings and slide away!

Puddle jumping

Jumping in puddles is great for little ones, or anyone who wants to make a big splash! Make it a competition to see who can create the biggest splash, and you could find your guests entertained for the whole afternoon!

Apple bobbing

Who says apple bobbing is just for Halloween?

Come rain or shine, we hope you enjoy your Big Lunch! We’d love to see and hear all about your day, so don’t forget to send your photos and videos to photos@thebiglunch.com and your stories to yourstories@thebiglunch.com

It’s a Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) initiative asking people from across the globe to share their memories of the last six decades and help to build this exciting history.

Like the Big Lunch, the Jubilee Time Capsule will form part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations next year and the best entries will be showcased in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen in 2012.

The Jubilee Time Capsule timeline runs from 6th February 1952 to 6th June 2012, commemorating the 60 years that make up The Queen’s reign and Headship of the Commonwealth.  Those 60 years equate to roughly 22,000 days and the RCS want to fill each day with a memory.

So far people have entered memories about weddings, school days, natural disasters, community issues and national days to name a few.  The RCS is now calling on Big Lunchers to share their memories with the Jubilee Time Capsule.

The Jubilee Time Capsule is about sharing stories that are important to you, your family and community.  Similarly the Big Lunch is about bringing family, neighbours and communities together.  This year the Big Lunch took place on Sunday 5th June and the Jubilee Time Capsule wants to know how your community took part.

Whether it was a garden party, a street party, or you held your Big Lunch in the community hall, why not share memories of your day with the Jubilee Time Capsule and help to build a Big Lunch collection?

Photos, video, audio and text can all be used to help tell your story.  All you need to do is to visit www.jubileetimecapsule.org, sign up and start contributing, just remember to tag your contribution with ‘Big Lunch’.

Share your Big Lunch story and take part in building this exciting people’s history!

The theme of the day for Melvin hall Strabane, Co Tyrone was an intergenerational approach to traditional children’s games. 

 Children from the local Surestart group were joined by ladies from U3A and staff members from Melvin Sports Complex.  Together they enjoyed lunch and an afternoon of learning Hopscotch, Skipping, and how to use the Hula Hoop.

U3A is the University of the third age.  The Third Age Trust is the national representative body for the Universities of Third Age (U3As) in the UK.  U3As are self-help, self-managed lifelong learning co-operatives for older people no longer in full time work, providing opportunities for their members to share learning experiences in a wide range of interest groups and to pursue learning not for qualifications, but for fun. http://www.u3a.org.uk/home.html

One lady from U3A Strabane group said she loved the idea of mixing the generations and the fun of the day was not dampened by the weather.  She added that it was great to be able to pass on the “old way to play” to the children.

Sure Start Strabane is about giving children a better start in life so that they will achieve well at school and grow up to be happy. They provide activities that address and meet the social, emotional, physical and educational development of children and their families in the local area. The services are friendly, easily accessible, sensitive to the needs of the local community because it is contributed to by the community itself. The aim is that Sure Start helps parents feel confident and in control of their children’s lives and their own, removing barriers which prevent parents from getting support in caring for and bringing up their children.

 Laura Henry one of the Strabane Surestart Mums said that “it’s refreshing to see all the children enjoying themselves without expensive play equipment or computers”.

“We underestimate the fun all generations can have together- we should do this more often” 

Clare Mullen, Melvin Centre Manager, is delighted by the success of the event and hopes that intergenerational programmes will be a feature of Melvin in the future. 

Strabane District Council are keen to build on the success of this first event and looks forward to planning the 2012 Big Lunch.

BIG has awarded grants worth £4.5m to ten rural villages across the UK to develop community enterprises that will breathe new life into their local area.  Six of these villages have had their stories filmed for a primetime BBC One television series, Village SOS, currently being aired at 8pm on Wednesdays.

Alongside the TV series, BIG has launched the Village SOS Active Learning Campaign, a resource that will help enterprising rural communities inspired by the Village SOS programme to start up their own community enterprises. 

How it works
Village SOS Active offers a range of tools, advice and information to help people bring their ideas for community enterprises to life, including an online community network where people can discuss ideas and share solutions to common issues.

The campaign is also providing a number of learning events across the UK and a dedicated national advice line, 0845 434 9123, where rural communities can receive expert advice on developing ideas for and running their enterprises.

Click here to watch videos and find out more

Community projects from all over Northern Ireland were encouraged to compete for the funding. UTV regional news featured the finalists and the public voted to decide which great cause received People’s Millions funding.

The successful  Northern Ireland community projects are:

• Holy Child Primary School’s Andersonstown Eco Dream Playground project West Belfast £60,000
• Greenlight Gateway’s Space to Grow project, Ballycastle, £60,000
• Cloughmills Community Action Team’s Happiness project – Peas and Love, Cloughmills, £57,533

Highest runner up:

• National Council of YMCA’s of Ireland’s Adventure Activity Area project, Newcastle, £60,000

Take a look at a short film created by the Big Lottery Fund which shows parents, staff and pupils from Holy Child Primary School in west Belfast celebrating winning £60k from this year’s People’s Millions competition in Northern Ireland.For the successful projects there is a great sense of community  joy and celebration as they kick start project delivery. Indeed they have plenty of reason to join The Big Lunch, June 2012 celebrating the progress they will have made with their ventures.

Greenlight Gateway joined The Big Lunch during their campaign and are excited about the journey ahead.  Greenlight Gateway realised the benefits of mobilising the whole community to support their project so they were quick to understand how holding a simple event like The Big Lunch gives everyone a reason to come together and develop new friendships and stronger more sustainable communites.  We hope to catch up with all the competitors to share their story and talk about how they too can join in and mobilise local people’s community spirit.

Frank Hewitt, Big Lottery Fund Northern Ireland Chair, said:  “The competition in the People’s Million’s in Northern Ireland has been really strong this year, and we’ve been so impressed with the strength of community spirit shown, with people getting behind their local project. I look forward to seeing these projects and the difference they will make in their communities when they open in 2012.”

Visit The People’s Millions and Jubilee People’s Millions website to find out the results in your local region.

We’ve created a short survey to capture your views on The Big Lunch in one place. Whether you hosted an event, attended an event or even if you didn’t, but are interested in getting involved in next year we want to hear from you.

If you have a spare 10 – 15 minutes then visit our questionnaire and answer a few questions about the big day, it would be greatly appreciated.

We look forward to hearing more of your great stories!