The Big Lunch for schools

Why hold a Big Lunch in your school?

The Big Lunch can be linked to many aspects of the curriculum and it is a fantastic way to bring pupils, parents and the wider school community together. There’s nothing like some food and fun to help forge connections and build friendships. Plus, lots of schools and organisations use The Big Lunch as a fundraiser and a whopping £100m has been raised at Big Lunches since 2015!

We know that schools are busy places, run by busy people, but The Big Lunch doesn’t have to be big or complicated. Below are some tips to make organising an event as easy as possible for you.

Get your Big Lunch pack 

Top tips for holding a Big Lunch at your school

1. Planning

Form a Big Lunch planning group and work with your schoolchildren to make the day a big success. Have your class list what they think makes a good party and everything they would need to organise one. You could encourage them to ask people of all ages about their favourite parties, what they did, what they ate and why it was so much fun.

Don’t forget to sign up to get your free pack to get started, and it includes free handy resources such as invites and posters.

Get your Big Lunch pack

2. Food

The Big Lunch is about the simple act of coming together over food. If pupils bring in their own packed lunch, why not encourage them to bring in something special, like a dish they made themselves or a favourite family recipe and make it a talking point?

If your school provides lunch for your students, focus on how you can make it more social. Perhaps you could encourage different age groups to sit together or work as a school to grow something for your Big Lunch – salad leaves grow quickly and may even grow back after you have picked some. You could also tie The Big Lunch into your teaching on healthy eating, where food comes from, or how to prepare and cook food.

 If the weather is good, get your pupils outside for a Big Lunch picnic for a nice change.

Grow food for The Big Lunch

3. Fundraise

The Big Lunch can provide an opportunity to fundraise for your school, generate finances for your latest project, a chosen charity, or essentials for your school or class. Why not ask local organisations or businesses for contributions to your Big Lunch?

Below are a few organisations that may be able to help with financing your Big Lunch or project.

• Tesco Bags of Help scheme – awards grants for projects that help the community, including hosting community events
• The National Lottery Community Fund – funds organisations with ideas that bring more people together and build strong relationships in and across communities

Easy fundraising ideas

4. Activities and teaching resources

We’ve put together some teaching resources to help you incorporate The Big Lunch into your lessons.

We’ve also got a great range of activities and ideas for the day.

To include your wider community in The Big Lunch, why not see if there are any local artists, performers or story-tellers that you can invite to take part and provide some entertainment or activities as part of your day?

5. Month of Community

You can hold a Big Lunch any time during the Month of Community, which takes place throughout June. The Month of Community is a time to come together to celebrate everything that makes our communities great.

Discover more about the Month of Community