Partnered by
- Big Lottery Fund - Lottery funded
- MasterCard
- EDF Energy
- Kingsmill
- Asda
We work with lots of different organisations who pledge their time and energy and to help make The Big Lunch a success. See who they are below. If you, or your organisation, would like to be involved with The Big Lunch 2012, please send an email to kate.groves@thebiglunch.com or call 020 7255 6455.
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 of your 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?
Capital Growth is a partnership initiative between London Food Link, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, and the Big Lottery's Local Food Fund and aims to support 2012 new community food-growing spaces across London, by the end of 2012.
Currently 739 projects are being supported throughout London and 17 borough councils, plus 7 housing associations have formally committed to support Capital Growth.
Groups or organisations starting or running food-growing spaces in London can apply to be part of the network and receive support, including:
Advice and expertise via a large support network
Support with promoting the projects and finding volunteers
Networking events, discounted training
Access to discounted and free materials, plus opportunity to apply for funding or competitions
“Capital Growth is delighted to support the Big Lunch as these events capture the spirit of many of our food-growing spaces, by providing a focus for local people to get- together and celebrate their neighbourhood over a delicious lunch. We hope this year these groups will be inspired to grow some of their own food to make the day even more special” Sarah Williams – Capital Growth.
BTCV is a leading environmental charity which works to make a difference to places and lives. Last year BTCV supported more than 620,000 people to think and act differently.
You can read more about BTCV at www.btcv.org and learn how to volunteer, donate, support campaigns and get environmentally active.
The Big Lunch teamed up with Ecomodo to help people get equipped for their Big Lunches. Using Ecomodo you can discover and borrow everything you need directly from your neighbours, friends and colleagues and create a rich community resource as a lasting legacy of your day.
From lawnmowers to tents; golf clubs to awnings, Ecomodo enables users to list their items to lend and see what others have on offer. Items can be lent for free or lenders are able to charge for an item, and keep the fee or make a donation to charity.
Making people feel comfortable about sharing, Ecomodo hand-holds each party through the lend, provides loan agreements and manages any fees. Lenders can automatically restrict their lending to circles of people with whom they have a basis for trust (e.g. school PTA’s, workplaces, neighbourhoods) and choose deposits or insurance for extra peace of mind. And like Ebay, a feedback rating system checks that both parties are happy at the end of a lend.
Get your Big Lunchers sharing and grow your circle, to provide a wonderful resource for your community to keep The Big Lunch spirit alive, all year round.
The Fairtrade Foundation is the independent non-profit organisation that licenses use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products in the UK in accordance with internationally agreed Fairtrade standards.
The Foundation works towards this vision by seeking to transform trading structures and practices in favour of the poor and disadvantaged and facilitating trading partnerships based on equity and transparency. Fairtrade contributes to sustainable development for marginalised producers, workers and their communities and empowers citizens to campaign for an international trade system based on justice and fairness through demonstration of alternatives to conventional trade and other forms of advocacy.
Faith Based Regeneration Nework (FbRN)
The Faith Based Regeneration Network is the leading national multi faith network for community development, regeneration and social action. FbRN seeks to enable and facilitate the active participation of faith groups in local community development and build the capacity of the faith based sector to engage in civil society. They do this by focusing on faith based social action which happens when people of faith work together, often with others outside their faith tradition, in order to achieve real and positive change within their local community or wider society. The Big Lunch is a great way to demonstrate this. When we sit and eat together we can debate, we can disagree, but we can also increase our respect for one another and build our shared commitment to make local communities vibrant places to live.
FbRN wants to encourage faith based social action projects to join in The Big Lunch, whether that is hosting a community lunch at a place of worship or joining in a street party.
Food Network UK is not your typical ‘how to’ cooking channel. It's packed with award-winning cooking and competition shows. Together with www.foodnetwork.co.uk, the channel is bringing a fresh perspective to the UK food scene and seeking out the next generation of UK chefs.
Foodnetwork.co.uk is the 24/7 companion to the TV channel. Find daily TV listings, episode guides, chef biographies, recipes featured on air, blog posts and more. Recipes are organised by season, ingredient, chef, course, and cuisine make meal planning easy.
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.
Inter Faith Network for the UK
The Inter Faith Network for the UK works with its 200 member bodies to promote inter faith understanding and cooperation in the UK. Its members include national representative bodies of the Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and Zoroastrian faiths; national, regional, local and other inter faith bodies; and academic institutions and educational bodies concerned with inter faith issues. For more information and to learn how to get involved in building good inter relations visit www.interfaith.org.uk
The Inter Faith Network is also the lead organisation for Inter Faith Week that takes place in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in November (this year from 20-26 November). To take part and for more information visit www.interfaithweek.org
Scottish Inter Faith Week runs from 27 November – 4 December, for information visit http://www.scottishinterfaithcouncil.org/22.html
The Jubilee Time Capsule, from the Royal Commonwealth Society, is a unique social archive of the 60 year reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The aim is to gather contributions from people all over the world about their lives and experiences over each and every day Her Royal Highness has been on the throne. These memories are welcomed from all walks of life and can be contributed in the form of stories, videos, photographs, drawings, media and more, to be used as part of the 2012’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and showcased to Her Majesty, The Queen.
Landshare is an online network that connects people who want to grow with those who have space to share.
Championed by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, it’s the ultimate landsharing resource, as well as a social hub for people who have a passion for growing their own food. Landsharers can look for land to grow veg on, offer their spare land, and connect with other Landsharers for help and tips.
Living Streets is the national charity that stands up for pedestrians. With our supporters we campaign to create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets, where people want to walk. They support The Big Lunch as it’s an excellent opportunity for neighbourhoods to come together – a good party can inspire people to work towards streets that are permanently more sociable and safer.
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.
Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland
Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland (RIBI) supported the Big Lunch. Rotarians love working with communities, bringing people together and making a difference whilst having a great time in the process and the Big Lunch is promising to do just that.
Rotary clubs are all across Great Britain & Ireland are always looking for enthusiastic people of all ages and backgrounds to join and use their time, talents, professional skills and energy to improving the lives of people in their local communities and others around the world.
And, in the process, you can enjoy the benefits of business networking, personal development, meeting new friends, hearing inspiring speakers, having a great deal of fun and experiencing that special sense of fulfillment that comes from achieving something really worthwhile.
PTA-UK is delighted to be supporting The Big Lunch once again. PTA-UK will be recommending to its 13,500 members that they run a Big Lunch as one way of marking this milestone and celebrating the achievements of PTAs up and down the country. David Butler Chief Executive of PTA-UK said: “PTA-UK is encouraging as many schools and PTAs to get involved as possible. Schools are at the heart of every community and what better way to celebrate this than by holding a Big Lunch. PTA- UK is very proud to be associated with such an important event.”
The Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network were proud to have worked closely with The Big Lunch in 2011. Neighbourhood Watch believes everyone has the right to feel safe where they live. We promote that right by helping build strong, friendly, active communities where crime and anti-social behaviour are less likely to happen.
Our scheme’s activities are characterised by their diversity, taking in everything from home security improvements to youth workshops to neighbourhood clean-up projects.
Through our website, our partners and our links with the police and local authorities, we give like-minded local people the resources they need to contact each other, share information and increase safety and social cohesion. In short, we help neighbours meet and to help each other.
The correlation between Neighbourhood Watch and The Big Lunch is self-evident and the network encouraged all watches to hold a Big Lunch in 2011. They also reached out to those communities where there is no watch in existence to create a legacy for the future by starting a watch.
The NHS Choices website is a dedicated free public health resource.
An online information service providing clear, current, accredited information and advice on over 2000 conditions, treatments and medicines.
It has a dedicated Carers section, comprehensive NHS service finder and an A-Z of health.
With over 8 million users a month, they are also linked to a directory of local services including links to health charities, advice lines, support groups and forums.
NHS Choices want to encourage healthy lifestyles and see supporting The Big Lunch as a great way to promote healthy eating, communities coming together, and most importantly having fun in the process
Pretty n Pink is the only registered breast cancer charity in Northern Ireland their 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 this year used 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 in 2012”
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.
SWISH KIDS 
SWISH KIDS are specialists in school fundraising and offer unique products that will capture your child’s artwork forever. Please visit our website for more information about our products.
We love The Big Lunch and are raising awareness through our communication channels, encouraging more schools across Northern Ireland to join the fun and help build strong, happy & safe, communities.
Team London is the Mayor’s ambitious programme to mobilise an army of volunteers across the capital to improve life in London through programmes that will reduce crime, increase opportunities for youth and improve quality of life by cleaning and greening London and building stronger neighbourhoods.We are pleased to support The Big Jubilee Lunch as they gear up for this very special year! Since 2008, the Mayor's programmes have galvanised tens of thousands of Londoners into action and Team London is now seeking to encourage an additional 10,000 volunteers by May 2012. Please visit www.london.gov.uk/teamlondon for more information, to find and post volunteering opportunities, and to nominate your volunteering heroes for a certificate of recognition from the Mayor.
The Big Tidy Up were proud supporters The Big Lunch.Following your Big Lunch why not have a Big Tidy Up and burn off all that food by helping to clear up your local community? Run by Keep Britain Tidy, the Big Tidy Up is England’s biggest ever clean up campaign. The Big Tidy Up runs right throughout the year and encourages groups and individuals to get together and clean up their local area by organising a litter pick in their community.
The Big Tidy Up is the perfect way to get to know your neighbours better, clean up your local area and most of all have some fun!
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. Harsh government policies and hostile media contribute to asylum seekers and refugees being misunderstood and pushed to the margins of society.
We asked supporters to host a Big Lunch in 2011 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.
UpMyStreet.com is one of the UK’s leading home information and community websites. The heritage brand, launched in 1998, enables more than 1.5 million consumers to make key decisions about their home and local area every month.
By entering a postcode people can find out about their community, choose a new area to live, research property sales, crime statistics and schools, save money in and around their homes, and access local business and services. The addition of local events listings and community forums is helping people engage with their neighbourhoods even more.UpMyStreet is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI), one of the leading developers of lifestyle content for the television and internet worldwide.
Volunteers’ Week 2011
Volunteers’ Week 2011 sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch took place 1-7 June. Now in its 27th Year, the Week is a celebration of the millions of volunteers who give their time and a call for others to get involved too.
A dedicated website – www.volunteersweek.org.uk has a whole host of information and resources including a searchable event locator, case studies, merchandise, free downloadable certificates, posters and flyers.
During Volunteers’ Week hundreds of events and activities take place up and down the country, organised by volunteer involving organisations, from a national double decker bus tour to coffee mornings and celebration parties for volunteers. Many Big Lunch street parties were also planned as it fell neatly in the middle of Volunteers’ Week.
We are really pleased to have supported The Big Lunch and that we share the belief in getting together with others to make things happen-it is a great thing.
Watch out for news on volunteers week 2012
Big Jubilee Lunch 2012, an Eden Project
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