Big Lunch shows that by working together great things happen

It’s not just ladies who lunch across the UK this week. Millions of people around the country have been packing up their picnic baskets to join in The Big Lunch, an idea sparked by the Eden Project a decade ago.

Its premise was that people are better equipped to tackle challenges when they face them together.

It not only helps communities fundraise for things which matter to them, it also gets neighbours together.

This sense of community is in danger of disappearing without trace if we don’t do something about it.

Earlier this year a survey of more than 4,000 found nearly 75% don’t feel they know their neighbours well, and one in five don’t even know the names of families in their street.

As Eden Project Communities’ Scotland manager Sandra Brown pointed out, we Scots are proud of being good neighbours, but recent decades has seen the loss of community spirit in many ways “and we don’t like it!”

So it’s maybe no wonder the number of people planning a Big Lunch in 2019 has doubled from last year.

Which brings me on to a Fife neighbourhood praised by Sandra as an “inspiring example of how a community can really come together”.

Dunfermline’s eastern expansion is a sprawling estate, which, because of its proximity to the M90 has attracted hundreds of commuters.

New houses popped up at a staggering rate and residents rushed to move in.

But bricks and mortar do not a community make, a fact recognised by the residents association for the Masterton Hall estate.

As former chairperson Pat Armstrong pointed out there were 101 houses but no amenities close by, hence the lack of a community environment.

They started a Big Lunch and now, to paraphrase a Boston bar it’s a place “where everybody knows your name”, with neighbours looking out for one another and regular get-togethers organised. I’d raise a glass to that. Cheers!

But the entire estate is still often seen as quite distinct from Dunfermline itself.

Now along the A92, work has started on what will be the biggest housing project in Kirkcaldy in a generation.

The £500 million 1,100-home Kingdom Park will incorporate a school, shops and community centre.

But just as much care has to be given to nurture what will be a huge new expansion of the town into a thriving, friendly community.

One where everyone feels they too are not only an integral part of the neighbourhood, but a fundamental part of the Lang Toun itself.

Get in touch with your local office at Kirkcaldy or send a letter to The Courier at letters@thecourier.co.uk

with Leeza Clark The Big Lunch initiative has created a place “where everybody knows your name”. Cheers!

FIFE OFFICE REPORTER LEEZA CLARK