The Eden Project is encouraging Commonwealth citizens to host their own Commonwealth Big Lunch between March 12 and April 22, 2018, to celebrate Commonwealth Day
The Eden Project is encouraging Commonwealth citizens to host their own Commonwealth Big Lunch between March 12 and April 22, 2018, to celebrate Commonwealth Day.
The Big Lunch is forming part of the official celebrations and coincides with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London on the week of April 16, 2018.
Last year, 9.3 million people in the UK, almost 14% of the country, joined in the Big Lunch 2017 and this year the Eden Project hopes to spread the event across all six continents.
Their website offers a free planning pack, a step by step guide on organising the day, and a range of recipes to try from many of the 52 countries in the Commonwealth.
The Eden Project aims to strengthen local connections and communities through tackling local issues and utilising talent.
Begun in 2009, the initiative now includes over 90,000 events, with people gathered in streets and gardens to celebrate the community and encourage the sharing of ideas, skills and resources to make friendlier, safer neighbourhoods.
Throughout the year, the UK team also supports more than 1,000 people who deliver local community-led projects, including Community Camp events, experiences and access to engaging resources.
Commonwealth Day, on March 12, is commemorated in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, the Pacific and Europe.
Celebration events include street parties, debates, faith and civic gatherings, fashion shows, flag raising ceremonies and school assemblies, with a diversity that reflects the unity and values of the Commonwealth.
The Queen will attend a multicultural, multi-faith service at Westminster Abbey in London and will deliver a speech as Head of the Commonwealth.
Secretary-General Patricia Scotland and other leading global figures are expected to deliver online statements on the links between governments, people and institutions within the family of 52 nations.
The day will promote the theme `Towards a Common Future’, as will the following Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which will discuss key global challenges and how to create a safer and more prosperous, fair and sustainable future.
On the Big Lunch, the Eden Project said: “We started off with a very simple idea: one day a year when, for a few glorious hours, cars stop, shyness stops, gloom lifts and the UK comes together in the street to meet, greet, share, swap, sing, play and laugh for no reason other than that we all need to.”
