A Big Lunch on a small budget!

 

Big Lunches don’t have to be expensive affairs, the most important ingredient is the people – try to focus on getting together with your neighbours and starting to build a community rather than gourmet dishes and fancy decorations. 

Here are some tips for how to make your Big Lunch fabulous with little or no cash, dig in and let us know if you have any more to add to the list…

 

Location

If you need to pay a fee to shut your road or buy insurance and you don’t have the cash there are plenty of other options.  Any common ground could work - a communal garden, village green, community centre grounds, car park, driveway, private garden or local park. Our friends at GreenSpace have plenty of info about local parks.  Libraries, schools, churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and gurdwara’s sometimes have outdoor spaces – they’re often at the heart of the community so provide the perfect backdrop for a Big Lunch, just make sure you get permission from the relevant person before you set up your trestles.

 

Spreading the word

Your Big Lunch Pack contains some invites and posters to get you started, photocopy in colour or cheaper black and white if you need more or download them from the website.  Or make your own – home-made leaflets and handwritten notes add a touch of personality and you could run a poster competition, it’s a great activity to involve the children. Drop invites off at every other door and ask them to pass on to their neighbours, or brave up and knock on a few doors, have a chat and ask people to spread the word – get the street talking before The Big Lunch.  You’ll be surprised how keen people will be to help out - often they just want someone else to take the first step.

 

 

Cheap eats

Ask everyone to bring a dish, desert or snack with them to share, match items with people so you don’t get lots of the same thing. If this won’t work you could always ask people to bring their own lunch – home-made or shop bought, the important part is sitting and eating together. There are lots of recipes from our celeb chefs and organisations here to whet your appetite.

 

 

 

Something to sit on and eat off

There’s definitely no need to buy new. Bring your own chairs, tables and rugs to the party if you can, sometimes a local community centre, school or church will let you borrow theirs if you look after them.  If that’s too tricky, try ebay or freecycle for cheap or free tables, chairs, benches and sofas. Use upturned buckets for seats, or covered ironing boards as a temporary table, everyone has something they can bring to the party.

 

 

Decorations

Re-use is the name of the game. Search your shed, cupboards and under your bed, pool the items and get everyone involved in creating and making. You can turn old sheets or clothes into colourful bunting or table cloths, and make signs, pictures or murals out of old magazines, wrapping paper or bits and bobs collected together. Add a few balloons and hey presto you’ve got a street party. There’s a bunting template in your Big Lunch Pack this year and easy to follow instructions for bunting and other ideas here.

 

 

 

Entertainment

Find the talent on your street; whether they DJ, sing, or play an instrument, tell jokes or stories, juggle or have a set of giant jenga at home, pooling talents and creativity will keep everyone entertained all day. The old games are still the best, egg and spoon, sack and three-legged races, tug of war or hopscotch, try a fancy dress competition, with a royal theme if you’re celebrating the Jubilee, and if you’re still stuck for ideas there are loads more suggestions here.

 

Get some cash

If you’re looking for small grants or pots of cash to help out, you could try contacting Awards for All your local council, housing association or Community Foundation or google for possible local and community funding streams. Here’s a list of some organisations we’ve found who might be able to help. There’s no guarantee and a lot of schemes will have early application deadlines and require records of how the money was spent.

For small amounts of money to get the party started, you could try starting a kitty with interested neighbours and set up a donations box or run a raffle on the day to recoup your costs. You shouldn’t need to register a community raffle that takes place during your Big Lunch as long as the tickets are sold, and winners announced, at the event, and you haven’t spent more than £100 on organising the raffle, or more than £500 on prizes.

Approach local businesses and ask them to sponsor particular elements of your party, like the hire of a bouncy castle, or to provide food, drink or prizes for a raffle.  Try and make your ask relevant to the service or business they offer.

 

 

If you have any tips for holding a Big Lunch on a budget please send them to fay.richards@thebiglunch.com