Youth got Community Spirit

The Big Lunch  and Belfast Harbour have teamed up to give young people a chance to make positive change where they live.

Many young people are passionate about doing their bit to help make a difference — from reducing loneliness to helping stop climate change — and here in Northern Ireland we know that we’re better equipped to tackle challenges when we face them together. The Big Lunch (an Eden Project Communities initiative funded by the National Lottery) is the perfect way to start good conversations where you live and this year  thanks to support from Belfast Harbour we are running this competition to motivate intergenerational activity and will announce the winners on Big Lunch day encouraging ongoing community spirited activity.

The Big Lunch will be celebrated by neighbourhoods across the UK from Friday 16th June to Sunday 18th June, providing a stand out date in the diary for neighbours to get together, get to know each other better, and celebrate their communities.

Anyone can host a Big Lunch either on the street with neighbours or as a wider community event the main date this year is 18 June and forms part of the Great get Together weekend and a free pack is available to anyone interested in taking part www.thebiglunch.com

This Competition is designed to recognise that young people are neighbours too and to enable them to get involved in the community where they live. Entering is easy young  people, from the ages of 8 to 18 team up with a community group or organisation and submit a short video to the Big Lunch team pitching their unique vision for a community spirited activity they would like to deliver with a local organisation or group, including ,how it will improve the feeling of community spirit and engage with a wide range of people of all ages within their local area.

The best entries submitted will be in with the chance of winning £3,000 worth of reusable materials which can be used for community spirited activity.

Jenni Barkley, Communications and Corporate Responsibility Manager of Belfast Harbour said:

“The Big Lunch is a fantastic initiative that Belfast Harbour are proud to support. Through this, we want to create broader, supportive community networks throughout Northern Ireland and together provide a safer environment for local people to thrive in, to increase happiness amongst communities.

“The Eden Project, with the support of Belfast Harbour, has enabled communities to make positive changes and provides an opportunity for local people to tackle challenges together.”

The Big Lunch day for neighbours aims to improve the happiness and wellbeing of people across the UK, by supporting communities in building more resilient and better connected relationships.

Grainne Mc Closkey, Northern Ireland Manager of The Big Lunch said:

“The Big Lunch has now been running successfully for 9 years. It has grown so much in that time due to the vast number of communities that have already got behind the initiative and witnessed the fantastic benefits of joining together.

“This year we wanted to engage with young people, involving them through our new digital competition. We live in a digital age where we can connect with friends, family and colleagues online this is empowering, but what about the people living next to us, digital connections are no replacement for face to face conversations! By building strong relationships with people who live near us, we tackle crime, reduce loneliness and ease community tensions, we hope to see lots of young people across Northern ireland taking up this simple challenge and making good and lasting local intergenerational community connections.”

So, who can enter?

Any organisational group or school can team up with young people from 8–18 yrs to enter the competition.

All you have to do is send in a short video message of no more than 3 minutes long. It must include the voice of the young person/people and outline what simple thing(s) you would like to do together to encourage community spirit where you live.

Your video doesn’t need to be super snazzy. You can even make it on a phone. Just upload it with the application form below.

As part of the competition, winners will then host a simple get-together in their community on the weekend of 16–18 June to bring people together locally, using the opportunity to share plans.

What’s up for grabs?

We’re awarding 4 entrants with £500 to spend on reusable materials which can be used in community spirited activity. A further 5 entrants will receive £200 to spend in the same way. 

How do I enter

its a very simple process  a three minute or less phone clip and a short word document

Just click on the link below  and if you have any questions contact Grainne Mccloskey [email protected]

Enter the competition https://www.edenprojectcommunities.com/youthcompetition