Sunday sees the 6th annual Big Lunch

On Sunday (June 1) thousands of people in towns and villages across Devon will be sitting down to eat with their neighbours as part of the sixth annual Big Lunch.

Around four million people throughout the UK are expected to take part in this year’s Big Lunch, a simple idea from the Eden Project to encourage people to get together with their neighbours and to create stronger links in the community.

There will be events of all shapes and sizes taking places throughout the county, from a picnic on Plymouth Hoe to a party commemorating the Second World War in Ivybridge and a Big Lunch for residents of Westward Ho!

Terry Thorpe is one of the organisers of the Westward Ho! event called Big in the Ho! Last year she hosted a Big Lunch for her street and the surrounding area along with her neighbour Ginette Berry. It was such a success that they decided to hold an event for the village to create a fun, cheerful lunch after a tough winter of floods and storms.

Terry said: “Ginette and I have just been overwhelmed by the amount of support that we have received, both from local businesses and the community generally.

“Our aim is to create an event where people have the chance to interact with each other and feel part of the community, and from the reaction from people so far, The Big Lunch is really helping to do that.”

Their lunch will be held in the Kingsley Memorial Hall, where people will be entertained by two local theatre groups, as well as a local history display and a raffle where they will be raising money for local charities the North Devon Cancer Care Trust and the Bideford and District Community Archive.

Research has shown that that there are many benefits to having a Big Lunch. More than 60 per cent of organisers say having an event in their community made them feel less isolated and 86 per cent of the 3.65 million people who took part in last year’s Big Lunch reported a positive long-term effect in their neighbourhood as a result.

It’s not too late for people to get involved with the Lottery-funded initiative. The Big Lunch website contains a whole host of hints and tips on how to make a simple, fun and inexpensive event for the whole community.

For more information visit www.thebiglunch.com