Charity Fundraising

Some people use their Big Lunch to raise money for charity – and use all kinds of weird and wonderful ideas to do so. If you do want to use your Big Lunch as a fundraising event, we have listed some good causes below.

You could also donate to one of the charities in your local area. Localgiving.com is a great resource that’s available if you’d like to search for charities and causes near you. It provides links to fundraising pages for the smaller organisations that you may not have already heard of but who are carrying out fantastic work that benefits people directly in your community. These smaller charities are often run on a shoestring and in desperate need of support.

There are lots of different ways to raise money at your Big Lunch, below are just a few ideas:

How to raise money at your Big Lunch

Bring and buy stand at your lunch, or a swapping stand, to help people swap unwanted items and charge a small ‘finders fee’ to donate to charity
Guess the weight of a cake, jar of sweets, home-made piñata or anything else you can think of, charge 50p per guess
Jiggle a simple collection tin or jar around on the day for donations
Hold a Talent Show – we’re sure your street has talent, ask for donations from entrants and watchers with a small prize for the winners, great entertainment for your Big Lunch
Involve Local Businesses -ask them to donate prizes for a raffle at your Big Lunch and donate the ticket sales
Cake bake and sale – judge all the entrants before they’re sold off, and hand out a big rosette
Games and sports activities that the whole neighbourhood can join in. Charge entrants a small fee and make or buy small prizes for the winners
Fancy Dress – set a theme for people or houses with a small entry fee for charity

Remember if Your Big Lunch is on your street, there may be a licence needed. Speak with your chosen charity to access official materials and your local authority, local police or The Charity Commission will be able to give you information about permissions to fund raise locally.

If you’re keen to support local charities through your Big Lunch but don’t want to ask for money you could encourage your friends, neighbours and community to ‘Bring a Tin’ with them to your Big Lunch.

Charities

The Eden project

The Big Lunch began life as a wild seed at the Eden Project. The Eden Project is more than a visitor attraction; it's also a unique education centre and charity, running social and educational programmes which help change the way people think about the world around them. Eden believes that a generation which doesn’t understand or value the natural world will not strive to protect it, that a generation that doesn’t value society won’t work together to save it. Eden’s transformational projects tackle this head on, and make a real difference to the lives of thousands of people – but they rely on the support of people like you to help continue these charity projects.

Eden is planning a major new development to raise awareness of the value and importance of the world’s rainforests, encouraging people to take action to conserve them. To find out about Eden’s new canopy walkway and rainforest education centre or to donate now text EDEN10 £5 to 70070 and help Eden take the rainforest experience to a whole new level.

Why not hold your Big Lunch in aid of Eden’s rainforest experience and Eden will give you your own piece of the Rainforest for free

Eden is offering abeautifulbronze coffee leafto all those Big Lunchers whoraise £50 or morefor Eden’sRainforestCampaign as way to say thank you for your support.

To claim your special gift, just send the funds raised at your Big Lunch in the form of a cheque made out to the Eden Trust to Fundraising Department, Foundation Building, Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall PL24 2SG.

N.B. please mark Big Lunch on the back of your cheque and provide a mailing address for your bronze leaf.

To find out more about Eden’sRainforest Campaign please email fundraising@edenproject.com , phone 01726 818735

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Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger is an international humanitarian organisation committed to ending child hunger. Recognised as a leader in the fight against malnutrition, Action Against Hunger saves the lives of malnourished children while providing communities with access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger.

Hosting a Big Lunch is a great way to be a part of their Love Food Give Food campaign and help raise much-needed funds for Action Against Hunger’s life-saving programmes around the world. Every £36 raised is enough to take a child back from the brink of starvation to full health in just a few short weeks, so the money you raise will make a real difference.

If you’d like to host your Big Lunch for Action Against Hunger or would like to find out more, please contact a member of the Love Food Give Food team on 0208 853 7582 or at lovefoodgivefood@actionagainsthunger.org.uk

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Age UK

Age UK is delighted to be supporting The Big Lunch. Big Lunches can make a very real difference to the lives of older people.

The demand on our services is ever increasing; by 2020 one third of the UK’s population will be over 60. Age UK works tirelessly to ensure that this important and growing segment of society is not overlooked, underrepresented or excluded.

Every pound you raise from your Big Lunch can help us reach the older people who feel isolated and alone in your local area. Join us creating a world in which older people are not ignored but flourish.

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Age Cymru

Age Cymru is the national charity for older people in Wales. We believe that age demands respect, it deserves kindness and sometimes it needs help.

We’re delighted to be involved with The Big Lunch. We all know that our society is ageing – that’s why our work is so important. Each day Age Cymru reaches out to many thousands of people in many and varied communities.

We’re asking you to support the work of Age Cymru with your Big Lunch. You can make sure older people are at the heart ofyour community and recognise their significant contribution to everyday life. This year’s Jubilee is a great time to involve older people in your plans - after all if you ask the question “I wonder what it was like 60 years ago?” – it’s easy to get the answer - ask someone who was there?

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Battersea Dogs and Cats Home

Every year Battersea gives around 10,000 lost, abandoned and neglected dogs and cats another chance at a happy life. Our dogs and cats come to us for many reasons. Sometimes it’s because their owner has passed away, sometimes it’s because they are cruelly dumped on our doorstep. No matter what their background, Battersea will be their home between homes.

We aim to never turn an animal away and make sure they receive the very best care – be that veterinary treatment, training or simply lots of affection. Our expert staff and hundreds of dedicated volunteers do this for as long as it takes us to find them a loving home. That can take months, or even years.

We are asking you to support us with your Big Lunch as dogs and cats are at the heart of many families and communities. The money you raise will help ensure that we can keep our gates open for all the dogs and cats that need us.

If you have any questions or would like any information on Battersea please don’t hesitate to contact us at events@battersea.org.uk or on 020 7627 9314. We’d love to hear all about your Big Lunch plans!

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Chicks

Chicks believes that every child is entitled to a happy childhood. That’s why we provide free respite breaks for disadvantaged children from across the UK including children that live in poverty, suffer abuse and act as young carers. During their week long break at one of our beautiful retreats, the children have the opportunity to take part in exciting activities such as horse riding and climbing. For many of them, these are first time experiences, helping them to build confidence whilst creating wonderful childhood memories that will last a lifetime.

By supporting CHICKS at your Big Lunch, you can bring your community closer together whilst also giving disadvantaged children the gift of hope and respite.

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Contact the Elderly

Contact the Elderly is delighted to be supporting The Big Lunch. We are a national charity tackling acute loneliness among isolated older people, aged 75 and above, by organising free monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties for small groups of older people and volunteers.

We currently have over 420 Contact the Elderly groups across England, Scotland and Wales, supporting over 3,400 isolated, older people. By 2015, the charity’s aim is to be taking over 5,000 elderly people to tea each month.We would love you to support the work of Contact the Elderly with your Big Lunch. The charity’s fundamental aim is to bring local communities together, which is at the heart of what The Big Lunch is all about.

Freephone: 0800 716 543

Email: info@contact-the-elderly.org.uk

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Creating Better Futures

Creating Better Futures supports the education and welfare of orphans and vulnerable children. We currently operate in Zimbabwe and believe that Hope + Education = Opportunity.

Creating Better Futures launched in 2012 and we have recently sent 79 orphans to primary school, giving them the opportunity of a better future. We need your on-going support to help these children to complete their education, year in, year out. Your support will also allow us to extend this opportunity to further children in Zimbabwe, as well as in other developing nations.

One of our founders received scholarships that took her from school in Zimbabwe, via college in Norway, to university in Britain. So we have first-hand experience of the benefits of pursuing education in the developing world.

By supporting Creating Better Futures at The Big Lunch you will be providing direct and sustainable help for orphans through education. For as little as £30 you could send a child to school for a whole year.

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FareShare

FareShare is an award-winning charity that fights hunger and food waste in the UK. We rescue good quality surplus food that would otherwise go to waste and deliver it to community projects that support disadvantaged people, benefiting people and the planet. There are 17 FareShare depots across the UK, from Aberdeen to Brighton, from Belfast to Newcastle. Through these depots, last year we provided food for 8.6 million meals, supported 700 local charities and helped them feed 35,500 vulnerable people a day.

We really like The Big Lunch! We know how important food: every day, the 700 organisations that we support provide food to people who struggle to feed themselves and who can therefore access the support they need over a nice hot meal in the company of people who care about them.

You too can join the fight against hunger by supporting FareShare. £1 is enough to enable FareShare to provide food for 4 meals; or why not organise a food collection by encouraging your fellow Big Lunchers to'Bring a Tin'.

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The Fire Fighter's Charity

The Fire Fighters Charity is the UK’s leading provider of life-enhancing services for serving and retired fire service personnel and their families. We aim to provide practical assistance and solutions to make a real difference to the lives of members of the fire service community.

It costs £9m every year to meet the needs of our beneficiaries, and with no government funding, we rely entirely upon donations from the public and the fire and rescue community.

More information can be found on the website or by emailing thebiglunch@firefighterscharity.org.uk

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Helen Rollason Cancer

Helen Rollason Cancer Charity supports people living with cancer. Our laboratory carries out research to improve the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. Our nurses support patients on trials to develop new cancer treatments.

We have three award-winning cancer support centres, in Essex, Hertfordshire and London, where patients and their family and friends can go to for support. Patients can also have therapies to complement their treatment and reduce stress which we provide free of charge.

Helen Rollason Cancer Charity is proud to support The Big Lunch. Whether you have something to celebrate or you just want to be surrounded by your family and friends, please support us so we can help more people living with cancer.

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Hope Together

HOPE is a national Christian campaign to encourage churches to join together in order to work with and serve their local community better. It is about the Church, across the country, engaging in villages, towns and cities and sharing hope through both words and actions. HOPE is often used as a banner for social action projects or community activities and a wide spectrum of Christian organisations and denominations are part of it.

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iDE UK

International Development Enterprises UK is a UK registered charity that has a mission to create income and livelihood opportunities for poor rural households in Africa and Asia. We have a market-based philosophy where we support small-scale family farmers to move from subsistence farming to selling their produce for profit.

These farmers are business people and entrepreneurs – not beneficiaries of charity – and they can haul themselves out of poverty by using the right technologies and approaches to farming.

We rely 100% on the generosity of the public to enable us to carry out the world changing work we do. We don’t believe you can donate people out of poverty. But we do believe that if you invest in people, you will see a tremendous return.

We’d love you to hold a Big Lunch for iDE UK. To register your interest or to find out more about iDE UK, please contact info@ide-uk.org or call 0208 905 5597.

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Love Food Hate Waste

Love Food Hate Waste aims to raise awareness of the economic and environmental impact of food and drink waste, and help UK households waste less and save more. We waste millions of tonnes of food every year costing each household around £50 every month. The environmental costs of food waste are enormous too - if we as householders stopped wasting food that could have been eaten we could prevent millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions each year. If fact if we didn’t waste this food it would have the same environmental impact as taking 20% of the cars off UK roads. We all have a part to play in reducing the amount of food that is wasted in the UK and that is why Love Food Hate Waste is working in partnership with The Big Lunch to offer simple every day solutions and inspiration to those of us who want to make a difference.

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Kerrang! Cash for Kids

Cash for Kids is the official charity of Kerrang! Radio and has raised thousands of pounds to help the neediest local children in Birmingham & West Midlands. Every penny raised stays within the local area. Kerrang! Radio’s Cash for Kids is unique in the fact that they support individual children, community groups, children’s hospices and other children’s charities, so by supporting Cash for Kids you are actually supporting hundreds of great causes in the local region.

The Cash for Kids Toy Appeal is the largest appeal carried out by Cash for Kids nationally. This year Kerrang! Radio’s Cash for Kids will be delivering the Toy Appeal to the neediest local children in Birmingham and the West Midlands who are at risk of waking up to nothing on Christmas morning. Cash for Kids are looking for companies and individuals to support the charity during and help make a significant difference to the area’s most needy children.

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Maggie's Cancer Charity

Following ideas about cancer care originally laid out by our founder, Maggie Keswick Jencks, Maggie’s is an organisation that creates places providing the emotional, practical and social support that people with cancer need. The Centres combine striking buildings, calming spaces, professional experts offering professional support, and the ability to talk and share experiences with a community of people who have been through similar experiences. Designed by industry-leading architects, Maggie’s Centres are warm, friendly and informal places full of light and open space with a big kitchen at their heart. They provide a peaceful space to absorb the information you’re inevitably bombarded with and help to relieve the stress of having cancer.

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Marie Curie

Marie Curie Cancer Care provides free nursing care to people with terminal cancer and other illnesses in their own homes and the charity’s nine hospices. Employing more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, the charity provided care to more than 31,000 terminally ill patients last year and is the largest provider of hospice beds outside the NHS.

The charity is best known for its network of Marie Curie Nurses working in the community to provide end of life care, totally free for patients in their own homes. Since 2004 Marie Curie Cancer Care has been campaigning for more patients to be able to make the choice to be cared for and die in their place of choice.

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Motability

Motability believes that everyone has the right to personal freedom and independence. For disabled people having the means to get out and about is often life-changing allowing them to enjoy their lives in a way many of us take for granted.

Motability is a national charity helping disabled people to become mobile by adapting their Motability cars, providing vehicles large enough to meet their needs and driving lessons for young disabled people aged 16-24. Each year we need to raise £2.4 million to ensure that all the people who need our help are mobile. Motability is encouraging you to get involved in The Big Lunch, raise some funds and help disabled people right across the UK become mobile. Please visit the website for more information.

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Parkinson's UK

Every hour, someone in the UK is told they have Parkinson's. Because we're here, no one has to face Parkinson's alone.

We bring people with Parkinson's, their carers and families together via our network of local groups, our website and our free, confidential helpline. Specialist nurses, our supporters and staff provide information and training on every aspect of Parkinson's.As the UK's Parkinson's support and research charity we're leading the work to find a cure, and we're closer than ever. We also campaign to change attitudes and demand better services.

Our work is totally dependent on donations and you can support us by holding your very own Party for Parkinson’s – from a Big Lunch to a street party – and raise funds to support people with Parkinson’s.

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Pretty 'n' Pink

Pretty ‘n’ Pink is the only registered breast cancer charity in Northern Ireland our aim is to:

-Create awareness of Breast Cancer in Northern Ireland especially in young women.
-Provide funds for patients most in need of assistance.
-Improve quality of life of Breast Cancer patients and their families in the best way possible.

Pretty ‘n’ Pink believes that The Big Lunch is a fantastic opportunity for local people to come together and share lunch in a show of community spirit: “We are very grateful to those who use their Big Lunch to help support and raise awareness for our breast cancer charity and hope that we can take part in further Big Lunch Projects”.

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Refugee Council

The Refugee Council is the leading charity working with asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. We are committed to creating a fair, humane and effective asylum system that provides protection and enables refugees to rebuild their lives in safety. As a human rights charity, independent of government, we rely on donations and supporters’ fundraising initiatives to run our life saving and life changing services for refugees.

The Refugee Council supports The Big Lunch because it’s a fantastic way to break down barriers of prejudice and suspicion and to build bridges across communities.
We are asking supporters to host a Big Lunch to raise vital funds for the Refugee Council, to share an opportunity of solidarity, and to hear the stories of people who have fled war, persecution or conflict.

If you would like to organise a Big Lunch to support the work of the Refugee Council, please contact them at supporter@refugeecouncil.org.uk or call 0207 346 1205 to receive your fundraising pack.

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Rockinghorse

Rockinghorse is a Brighton-based charity which has been supporting children for over 40 years. It was set up in 1967 by Dr Trevor Mann, who recognised there was a real need for additional resources to improve healthcare services for sick children and babies. The charity is best known today for its work with the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital and the Trevor Mann Baby Unit, where it raises money for life-saving and cutting-edge medical equipment, while ensuring that children are treated in an environment that is better suited to their needs. Rockinghorse does not receive any government funding and relies on the generous support of individuals, community groups, companies and trusts.

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RSPCA

The RSPCA is the world’s longest-running and best-known animal welfare organisation. Everything we do supports our goal of preventing cruelty.

We work tirelessly torescue domesticanimals and wildlife. Our wildlife centres rehabilitate animals who can be returned to the wild. We work with the government and public to prevent cruelty andprosecute thosewho neglect the law, on behalf of defenceless animals.We rely totally on the support from our generous supporters.

We are delighted to be working with our friends from The Big Lunch and hope everyone has a fantastic time holding their Big Lunch!’

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Sustrans

Sustrans makes smarter travel choices possible, desirable and inevitable. We’re a leading UK charity enabling people to travel by foot, bike or public transport for more of the journeys we make every day. We work with families, communities, policy-makers and partner organisations so that people are able to choose healthier, cleaner and cheaper journeys, with better places and spaces to move through and live in.

We’re working with The Big Lunch to help give children the freedom and confidence to play outdoors. Find out more about our Free Range Kids campaign by visiting their website.

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Teenage Cancer Trust

Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity dedicated to improving the quality of life and chances of survival for young people with cancer aged between 13 and 24. We build specialist units within NHS hospitals, bringing young people together to be treated by teenage cancer experts in a place designed just for them. We want every young person with cancer to have access to this specialist support, no matter where they live.

We rely solely on donations to fund our vital work. You can help transform the lives of young people with cancer.

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The Trussell Trust

Foodbanks giving emergency food to local people in crisis are springing up nationwide. Every foodbank launched by The Thrussell Trust charity enables local people to tackle the hidden hunger that exists unnoticed on our doorsteps. With 13 million people living below the poverty line in the UK, something as small as an unexpected bill can force families on the breadline to go without food.

Every client who comes to a foodbank is referred by a frontline care professional such as a doctor or social worker. All food given out is donated by people like you – members of the public, schools, churches and businesses.

Your Big Lunch is a great place to collect food for your nearest foodbank. Encourage everyone who attends your event to bring an extra item or two from the list below.

Items needed are all non-perishable and include: UHT Milk, sugar (500g), long-life fruit juice, soup, pasta sauces, sponge pudding (tinned), tinned tomatoes, tinned vegetables, cereals, tinned rice pudding, tea bags/instant coffee, instant mash potato, rice/pasta, tinned meat/fish, tinned fruit, jam, biscuits or snack bars

The Trussell Trust Foodbank network would also welcome financial support – please donate by visiting the website.

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