Download - Ideas To Engage Communities In Change
Ideas to Engage Communities
in Change
11:00 – 12:30
Paul Twivy
Chief Executive, The Big Lunch
“Human Warming”
A Presentation to Chain Reaction
by Paul Twivy, Director, The Big Lunch
November 12th 2009
The Big Lunch
Once a year, we want as many of the 61 million people in the UK as possible, to simultaneously sit down to lunch together...
... with their neighbours, in the middle of their street, as a simple but profound act of community.
Not for a State Occasion or for a Bank Holiday but for its own sake.
The Big Hope
For three to four glorious hours, traffic stops, technology is switched off ...
...and people meet, eat, discuss, laugh, entertain and feel hope.
The breaking of bread has been the symbol of hospitality since time immemorial, a metaphor for the need to share.
Expressing All Our Gifts
Community is based on the Latin word “communio” which means “together in gift”.
People are encouraged to grow food and flowers.
To cook with an understanding of “plough to plate”.
To create music in the “garage band” tradition.
Expressing All Our Gifts
To do “street art” from pavement drawings to murals.
To devise games and sports.
To create tablecloths & banners.
Our Big Ideas
Human Warming
- The Antidote to Global Warming- The Essential Spirit and End Benefit of The Big Lunch
Community 2.0
- A Contemporary Form of Community-Building, using digital and social networking tools to promote face-to-face human contact and collaboration.
- Whilst 9.6 million regularly use social networking sites and extol the virtues of Web 2.0, 97% of UK communities have become more fragmented in the last 30 years.
Our Big Ideas
Charity Begins at Home
- Many of the most brilliant social entrepreneurs in the UK work in community charities.
- They tackle the most difficult issues on our doorstep - reducing street crime, helping refugees, reforming ex-offenders - but are under-funded.
- We can give them a massive boost in terms of both income and volunteers.
Re-Claim Your Street
- Streets without cars but filled with neighbours - as experienced at a street party - remind us that streets should be fundamentally a shared social space not a transport system.
The Legacy
Social Networking on a Street-by-street basis.
Collaboration on everything from reduction of street crime to shared transport.
Increased local shopping. Better supported community
charities. Desire for people to grow their
own food. Physical improvements to
neighbourhoods. Use of unclaimed public buildings/
new youth facilities.
Eden as Catalyst
The Eden Project is the catalyst behind The Big Lunch, its guiding light and the owner of its intellectual property.
Eden is as much about social change as environmental change, indeed sees the two as inextricably interlinked: the creation of “Local Eden’s”.
However, just as Eden is effectively “owned by the public” the intention is that The Big Lunch belongs to everyone.
The Impact of The Big Lunch 2009
730,000 people took part. Figures would have exceeded 1 million had it not been for the wind and rain.
36% of the population are now aware of The Big Lunch: some 22 million people. MasterCard recorded total awareness at 60% of the population.
Profile of Big Lunch Neighbourhoods
More than 8000 unique post-codes from all across the United Kingdom were registered on the Big Lunch website
Analysing the post-codes against the Multiple Deprivation Index showed: Big Lunches were spread fairly evenly from the most deprived to the least deprived areas in the UK.
It is very encouraging that The Big Lunch is very diverse in its appeal and can help the poorest communities where it is most needed.
England (total of 6786 valid postcodes)
Quintile % of Big Lunches
Most deprived 15%
2nd most deprived 20%
Median 22%
2nd least deprived 21%
Least deprived 21%
63%
56%
56%
44%
43%
27%
Bonding with neighbours is the major driver of this interest, particularly for the oldest segment of the population. The younger ones like the concept of street parties while those older think it would fulfill some practical interest
I'd like to get to know my neighbours better
I would feel happier knowing more of my neighbours
I think we all need to live more locally
I like street parties
It's practical to share with neighbours
It saves money to share with neighbours
Reasons for potential Interest and non interest Base: All non aware interested (399),
Males Females 16-24 25-34 35-54 55-64 65+
62% 64% 65% 64% 57% 57% 75%
57% 55% 45% 52% 62% 63% 57%
56% 58% 56% 57% 56% 48% 64%
38% 51% 55% 52% 45% 36% 22%
40% 46% 42% 37% 50% 50% 30%
25% 29% 26% 34% 29% 19% 20%
The Impact on Communities
31% of participants rated their Big Lunch 10 out of 10: “a complete success”.
74% rated it between 8 and 10 with the average score being 8.14.
The most successful elements were a powerful sense of community and meeting new people.
Food was the third highest success factor.
Source: LGIU
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Learnt new things about where I live
Had fun planning
Enjoyed good entertainment
Have started to plan future events
Lots of people came
Had fun with friends
Enjoyed good food
Met new people
There was a great sense of community
The Sustained Impact on Communities
84.3% of respondents feel closer to their neighbours.
Crucially they anticipate this being sustained....
87.5% are planning to keep in touch with new people.
74.8% are planning future events.
22.3% already use a social networking site to stay in touch with neighbours and a further 29% would consider doing so.
Source: LGIU
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Planning other communityactivities
Planning future events
Feel closer to neighbours
Planning on keeping in touch withnew people
Social Impact
“The Big Lunch has been a success, both in terms of how widely-spread and well-received the event was, as well as sparking some new valuable social networks for participants.”
“The Big Lunch with its bottom up approach has managed to create a new sense of community across the fragmenting neighbourhoods of Britain, sparking new, sustainable networks of value for people.”
“In an era of constrained public finances and complex social challenges, an era in which ‘doing more for less’ is more and more necessary, The Big Lunch’s lessons about how to make communities work better may prove to be essential.”“The Big Lunch: Feeding Community Spirit Report”Local Government Information Unit
Interest in attending The Big Lunch 2010
15% of the population are very interested in attending or organising a Big Lunch in 2010.
This equates to 9.2 million people.
Source: Hall & Partners
Thank You & Please Join Us for The Big Lunch 2010
Martha Lane Fox
Chair of the Digital Inclusion Task Force
Mary Rhead-Corr
Executive Director of the United Bank of Carbon
Catherine Sermon
National Community Impact Director, Business in the Community
Why do we want to engage communities in our and work and
in the work of government?
What is community?
A group of people sharing the same interest or
concern about an issue.
Often geographic, but may not be
Why do we want to engage communities in our and work and
in the work of government?
What does your organisation do to
engage communities?
What works for you?
Ideas to Engage Communities
in Change
11:00 – 12:30