The Big Jubilee Lunch is part of the official celebrations for HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee from 2-5 June, and councils are being called upon to help communities take part.
Surrey County Council is leading the way, with its libraries, communities and communications teams working together to promote The Big Jubilee Lunch and organise and encourage events all over the county. We have seen communities stepping up to help, volunteer, and generally just join in.
We are embracing this and building on the good that has come out of such a challenging few years. Our goal is to ‘leave no-one behind’ – to give every resident an opportunity to be involved, to empower communities and, as a result, build healthier, safer and greener places to live.
The Big Jubilee Lunch is proving to be an excellent vehicle to help drive this philosophy forward. Last year, we held a virtual Big Lunch to connect and communicate with colleagues. More than 500 people took part, with topics such as volunteering, community working, and diversity discussed in groups.
This year, we’re excited to be able to get together in person. We have created a Jubilee web hub, are in close contact with borough and district colleagues and stakeholders, and are using libraries and community spaces to spread the word.
Social media platforms such as Nextdoor and Facebook have been crucial in promoting the campaign, and we’ve made our social media assets available to community groups across the county.
Everything we do is for the benefit of those who live and work in our wonderful county, and we can’t continue to grow and improve alone.
We are actively changing how we work with residents, and the ‘no we can’t’ culture is now a ‘let’s see what we can do together’ culture.
The most valuable and powerful thing we have is our communities, and The Big Jubilee Lunch is the perfect excuse to celebrate that – and let’s face it, who doesn’t like to have a great lunch and a good natter with friends!