Southport Market · Sunday 7 June 2026
The Great Big Green Lunch
Once a year we put long tables down the middle of Southport Market, ask people to bring a dish if they can, and see who turns up. In June 2026, around 300 people did - for a free community meal as part of the Eden Project's Big Lunch and the Climate Coalition's Great Big Green Week.
The day itself
What happened on the day
People of all ages and backgrounds came, many of them meeting their neighbours properly for the first time. There was live music from Yooks, G:Force Gospel Choir and local singer Via Grace, a baking competition, a raffle, crafts, and a children's seed planting station that ran all day. Community stalls filled out the room: Friends of High Park brought plants, Om Nom Waste ran a zero waste stall, and Eloise of It's Not Knitting brought a crochet stall.
Our guests of honour
We were joined by Patrick Hurley MP, the Mayor of Sefton Cllr Jen Corcoran, Tracey Robbins from Eden Project Communities, Imam Ibrahim from Southport Mosque, and Karen Egleton, Co-op Member Activator.
In their words
"To see so many people gathered together - different backgrounds, shared values, open hearts - was something really powerful." Rebecca Armstrong and Nadia Speers-Robinson, directors of The Hearth Network.
The people who made it possible
EFT Group Ltd printed our banners and posters and sponsored the children's seed planting station. Fletchers Solicitors donated £100 in garden centre vouchers for the raffle. The Old Bakehouse Coffee Shop made the vegetarian sandwiches, delivered in an electric car run on solar panels and funded by a microgrant from The Jo Cox Foundation. Kasturi Indian Restaurant donated 150 samosas. Gang of Elk built the children's crafting space. Southport Market gave us the room, and Tracy Holgate and Sarah Townley at Sefton Tourism supported us at every step.
And our volunteers
Washing up, serving food, welcoming people in, or just stopping for a chat - our volunteers are the reason the day felt open and warm rather than organised.
In the press
The lunch was covered by Andrew Brown in Stand Up For Southport on 11 June 2026, and in the Southport Visiter on 18 June 2026.
From the day
