Mount Pleasant Big Lunch case study
About Leonie
Leonie Ramondt is a Voluntary Coordinator at Hub on the Hill and is lead organiser of Mount Pleasant Big Lunches.
The community
Mount Pleasant is not an affluent area, but I would describe it as being vibrant and diverse, as well as welcoming and rich in creative, community activity. When I moved there in 2016, this all seemed to take place ‘below the radar’. In my search for community activities, I found a small group of volunteers looking after the Rosehill Quarry Community Park and several individuals working to develop communal growing spaces:
‘There’s lots of people who are like community activists – people in the community, very creative, very active in leading in community initiatives – and wanting to see their community thrive, flourish, and proactive in trying to make it a really welcoming place.’
Big Lunch volunteer
Mount Pleasant Big Lunch
Connecting with others
Local residents’ concerns about anti-social behaviour were particularly evident on the Mount Pleasant Facebook page, where, in those days, it was rare to find positive news. In an effort to address vandalism and county lines activity that was escalating in the area, a residents meeting was organised at the local school with local councillors, community police and members of the community. Various people expressed a need for a hub where we could easily come together. A local housing association recognised that it is harder for anti-social behaviour to thrive in an area where there is a lot of community activity. They therefore provided us an apartment, like a community living room, which we subsequently named Hub on the Hill.
Our Big Lunch activities offered a great context to bring people together from different cultures, by sharing food dishes, music, and space to have fun together. Furthermore, people met neighbours from beyond their own streets, as they were encouraged to join each other’s Big Lunch events – not only in two of our bigger parks but also at our various Play Street events with face painting and circus performance, and at a pizza making afternoon and even a mad hatter’s tea party!
‘We had face painting and some of the guys involved in Circus Eruption* came along. People brought food to share. Again, a variety of people from the community – lots of different ethnicities, and lots of different types of food that people have never seen before.’
Big Lunch volunteer
These events really helped to bring together our wonderful diverse community. Sharing food and providing kids play opportunities is a wonderful way to connect with people, especially our refugee and asylum seeker families and local students who would otherwise not have had a reason to stop and talk when passing on the street:
‘People became connected, who wouldn’t have connected otherwise. I think the fact that it was outdoors, and not inside, made it feel safer for people because it’s a bigger space; it’s less intimidating.’
Big Lunch volunteer
Leading to other initiatives
Setting up and running Big Lunch activities is a collective effort, involving the passion, energy and skills of lots of residents. They are, therefore, an important demonstration to others of the power of communities coming together and what this can achieve. For example, in Mount Pleasant, as a result of our Big Lunch activities (and with the support of our local area co-ordinator), the local housing association has trusted the community to run the Hub on the Hill safely and effectively.
Furthermore, the Hub on the Hill now provides the organisational umbrella for Mount Pleasant Community e-bikes, as well as for the Primrose Hill Community Park. The latter is undergoing significant transformation as a community orchard and creative events space, since that fabulous neighbourhood pizza party five years ago.
The Big Lunch as a helpful motivator!
For those of you wanting to bring your local community together and thinking about holding future community events, doing this as part of a wider national programme, such as the Big Lunch, is really helpful. Connecting community events to the Big Lunch creates a perfect excuse to knock on your neighbour’s door. Working together to put on celebratory activities for the community dissolves barriers easily and naturally. The Big Lunch also offers additional support, resources and tips on how to do this and provides momentum to continue over time. After a few years of practice, we’re getting really good at it and more creative too!
‘It is like a certain alibi, certainly a catalyst. It is easy to not get around to things when there is not a specific date. If it is part of a national initiative, it is like yeah, we are all doing it – which normalises it, encourages it and really supports it.’
Big Lunch volunteer
A short reflection like this inevitably simplifies the story, so a big call out to all the amazing people in my wonderful Mount Pleasant community who contribute their caring and kindness together.
*To learn about Circus Eruption, please visit the Circus Eruption website.
