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 Mighty oaks from little acorns grow. A groundswell of goodwill is spreading across the land as friends and neighbours come together for a common (and gloriously uncommon) purpose. With just a few days to go until The Big Lunch on 19 July, events up and down the country are starting to take shape. T he turn out on the day is currently estimated at around half a million, but as more and more people sign up to take part, that figure continues to grow. The Big Lunch, the ambitious idea from the Eden Project, in partnership with MasterCard, and supported by EDF Energy and the Royal Mail Group, aims to bring together as many of the 61 million people in the UK to simultaneously eat lunch with their neighbours and put a big smile on people’s faces. Whether it’s their prize-winning courgettes, secret-recipe homebrew or playing a mean set of spoons, finding out what our neighbours are made of is one of The Big Lunch’s great joys; forging firm friendships another. There are as many ways to get involved as there are people to turn up. From home-made art, cakes or beer, to garage bands, mini-olympiads and open mics, or simply showing up and having a great time with the people on your street, the possibilities are endless. So far, over 7,000 lunches have been set up across the country, including:· a 5,000-strong Big Lunch in Toxteth, Liverpool, hosted by Arts in Regeneration, which will see 5 streets transformed into an open-air gallery promenade with cultural food, film, football, art, dancing, choirs and buskers · Garstang, the world’s first ever Fairtrade town twinned with the Ghanaian town, New Koforidua, and now twinning their Big Lunch too · Sikh gurdwaras in London and Bradford will be sharing a magnificent curry for The Big Lunch through the institution of ‘langar’ - people from different religious and social groups cooking and eating together Paul Twivy, CEO of The Big Lunch, commented: “Let’s all express our talents, get over our embarrassment, shake hands and work with our neighbours and realise that the neighbourhood where we live is the biggest untapped source of happiness we possess.”Eden Project Chief Executive, Tim Smit, commented: “Imagine a summer's day on which millions of us, throughout the UK, sit down to have lunch together with our neighbours: in the middle of our streets, around our tower blocks and on every patch of common ground. The food, entertainment, music and decorations we will have grown, cooked, or created ourselves. This will be a day to break bread with our neighbours, to put a smile on Britain's face.” The Big Lunch takes place on Sunday July 19, 2009. Looking for inspiration? Check out Easy Ways to Serve The Big Lunch, our multi-purpose high-energy manual packed with wild ideas and straight up facts (available for £2 from the website, Waterstone's, WH Smith, B&Q, Amazon - proceeds go towards the Eden Trust), plus our spread-the-word leaflets that will start a Big Lunch buzz in your neighbourhood. Visit www.thebiglunch.com for more information. For Further Information please contact:
Rhona Hurcombe 07976 847594 rhona@thebiglunch.com
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