The Big Lunch Community Walk arrived in Banbury last week where they met with Visit Banbury, a new social enterprise which aims to make Banbury an even more appealing place to live, work and visit.
The visit comes as part of a 17-day UK wide journey across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales from 17 May to the 2 June. Eight walkers have set out on a community focused walk to learn about collaborative projects and neighbourhood activities, while meeting and chatting with the general public, determined to invite everyone to join The Big Lunch on the first weekend in June.
Walking home for their own Big Lunch, Laura Graham and Carole Wright are the England team that visited Portsmouth, one of the 17 towns and cities they will visit in 17 days.
Having invited walkers to see the great work they are doing, Tim-Tarby Donald of Visit Banbury said:
"We were delighted to welcome the Big Lunch community walk just a few short weeks after the birth of our new social enterprise. It was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our launch and work as part of the Age Friendly Banbury Initiative, and to share our plans. We had a fantastic day full of great conversations and engagement which will hopefully help raise Banbury’s profile as a lovely place to be and to visit”
Passionate about celebrating community projects, Carole Wright, walker from London said:
“Tim’s enthusiasm for his work and his community is infectious and it was a delight to visit Banbury and to hear all about their recent launch and future plans. We had a fantastic day in Banbury!”
Fellow walker Laura Graham from Northampton, determined to get more Big Lunches kick started said:
“Tim and the Visit Banbury volunteers truly capture the spirit of the Big Lunch so it was perfect to meet them as part of the Big Lunch community walk. I’m so excited to see what they do next!”
Earlier this year The Big Lunch released a OnePoll survey of over 4,000 people that found almost three quarters (72%) of the UK population don’t feel they know their neighbours well and 1 in 5 don’t even know their neighbours names.
Signalling a step change in their efforts to increase community connection, Peter Stewart Executive Director Eden Project said:
“Our team of walkers are celebrating the good stuff out there and want to get more Big Lunches going to feed community spirit on a mass scale. Our report showed that connections in our neighbourhoods are under attack, but sharing food at a Big Lunch brings everyone together and it’s fun - you don’t need any better excuse than that!”
An idea from the Eden Project, made possible by the National Lottery, The Big Lunch is about millions of people getting together to share food and get to know each other better. Every year, over 6 million people take to their streets, gardens and neighbourhoods to join in for a few hours of community, friendship and fun on 1 and 2 June.
Get your free pack at thebiglunch.com
