EventsGroupsNewsOCFthe big lunch banbury cake

The Eden Project Communities Big Lunch came to Banbury on a very sunny Saturday in late May. Lots of smaller community and street based lunches had already been held and by joining the Big Lunch they were able to scale up, create a bigger event and bring the whole town together.

Tim Tarby-Donald from Visit Banbury CIC who organised the event to showcase the work of Age Friendly Banbury said: ‘‘We are hopeful that the positive, inclusive impact on our neighbourhoods and community more generally will start to happen, creating a greater support network for our ageing population and all of our residents.’’

OCF is a founder member of the Age Friendly Banbury partnership, which aims to make Banbury a great place to grow older. There are already some great groups and opportunities for older people in Banbury, but for some older people poor transport, unsuitable housing, fear of crime, lack of community cohesion, limited care and support and difficulty finding or getting to social activities can get in the way of enjoying their later years. The initial focus of the partnership is on older people, but our vision is of a ‘Banbury for all ages’ – a friendly and more accessible town for everyone.

The Eden Project aims to improve the happiness and wellbeing of people across the UK by helping to build more resilient and better connected communities. They support individuals and communities as they create positive change to tackle local issues that matter to them most.The Big Lunch 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. Since it began in 2009, The Big Lunch — the UK’s annual get together for neighbours — has grown ten-fold and each year gets bigger and better. The Eden Project Communities team took the Big Lunch to Banbury to see the amazing impact it’s had on the town.

 

 

Read more on the Age Friendly Banbury partnership