Big Lunches bring people together across Northern Ireland

Hundreds of people gathered for Big Lunches across Northern Ireland at the weekend – bringing neighbourhoods together and celebrating a month of community action.

From Belfast to Ballygawley, Waterfoot and Warrenpoint, folks came together to share food, friendship and fun with a Big Lunch, an idea from Eden Project aimed at bringing communities closer.

The Big Lunch is part of Month of Community, an annual opportunity for neighbourhoods and groups across the country to meetup, fundraise for a good cause, reduce loneliness, spend some time in a local green space and enjoy getting to know each other better. 

More than 200 Big Lunches were planned in Northern Ireland including street parties, BBQs, coffee mornings and public picnics, and the hope is that more will join in as the month goes on.

Grainne McCloskey, Northern Ireland spokesperson for The Big Lunch, said: “We are delighted that so many communities across Northern Ireland came together to share food, friendship and fun at the weekend. When people sit down and get to know each other better they often go on to do good in the areas where they live and we hope The Big Lunch will be a catalyst for action.”

Across community hubs, people of all ages spent time together enjoying a bite to eat and getting to know each other better.

On Saturday a Big Lunch was held at the Green Spaces Community Growing Project in Warrenpoint where guests were treated to produce grown from the garden. The popular community garden was named as a top ten finalist in this year’s Big Lunch recipe search for its Irish apple chutney and seeded bread recipes which will feature in a Big Lunch online cookbook.

Some other events across the country included a picnic in Castle Park in County Down, a flower arranging session by Ark Housing Association in Belfast, and parades in Annadale, South Belfast and Ballygawley, County Tyrone.

Members of the Indian community in Northern Ireland came together to enjoy their annual Big Lunch held at Ormeau Bowling Pavillion in Belfast hosted by events management company ImageNation NI who are celebrating six years of community, culture and connection. 

Lindsey Brummitt, Programme Director at the Eden Project, said: “Despite the perils of the unpredictable great British weather, come rain or shine on Big Lunch weekend we see people having fun and getting to know their communities a little better. And our research proves the positive impact lasts long after the weekend is over! After a Big Lunch people feel safer, less lonely and more connected to where they live, so it’s incredibly heartwarming to know so many people take part. The fun continues throughout June for the Month of Community, so it’s still not too late. Just visit www.TheBigLunch.comand get involved!”

The Big Lunch is an idea from the Eden Project made possible with support from the Pears Foundation and partners Co-op and Greene King. It’s the UK’s annual celebration for neighbours and the biggest community-led fundraiser, bringing millions of people together in a nationwide act of friendship in June every year since 2009. Her Majesty The Queen has been patron since 2013.  

To find out more go to www.thebiglunch.com

ENDS

For more information please contact Victoria Mitchell on vicmitch100@gmail.com

About The Big Lunch  

The Big Lunch is an idea from the Eden Project made possible by the support of Pears Foundation and corporate partners Co-op and Greene King. It’s the UK’s annual celebration for neighbours and communities bringing millions of people together in a nationwide act of friendship on the first weekend in June every year since 2009. Her Majesty The Queen has been Patron of The Big Lunch since 2013.  

For The Big Lunch follow us at @edencommunities:  Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and for Eden Project news follow @edenprojectcornwall on Instagram, TikTok / @edenproject on X and LinkedIn. For information on Northern Ireland please follow @TheBigLunch_NI on X.

To find out more about The Big Lunch go to www.TheBigLunch.com and for the Eden Project go towww.EdenProject.com.  

About Pears Foundation

Pears Foundation is an independent, British family foundation driven by a desire to demonstrate the good that philanthropy can achieve in the world.  It is the philanthropic foundation of the Pears family, who have given more than £450million to charity since the Foundation was established.  The foundation is focused on building long-term relationships with partners, providing core funding and offering more than money through organisational and leadership development programmes, with the aim of demonstrating the foundation’s vision of good philanthropy and the value of leading by example. To find out more, visit pearsfoundation.org.uk

About Co-op

Co-op Group is one of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives, with interests across food retail, funerals, insurance, and legal services. Co-op is owned by and run for its 6.2 million members. With over 2,300 food stores and more than 800 funeral homes, Co-op also supplies products to 6,000 other outlets, including those run by independent co-operatives, through its wholesale business, Nisa Retail Limited.

Employing 55,000 people, Co-op has an annual turnover of over £11 billion and is a recognised leader in social goals and community-led programmes. Co-op exists to meet members’ needs and champion the causes they believe in.

About Greene King

Greene King is the country’s leading pub company and brewer with c.2,600 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland. It’s passionate about delivering its purpose to ‘pour happiness into lives’ - for customers, team members, pub partners, suppliers and the communities in which Greene King live, operate and serve. Founded in 1799 with offices in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk and Burton on Trent in Staffordshire they employ around 39,000 people across the group with three divisions: Greene King pubs & Pub Partners, Destination Brands & Ventures, and Brewing & Brands.