People in Greater Manchester, across the country and the Commonwealth are invited to celebrate the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort over a weekend of special events on 6–8 May.
The Coronation ceremony will take place on Saturday 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey. The Coronation programme will include the procession and service at Westminster Abbey on 6 May, the ‘Coronation Big Lunch’ across the country on 7 May (with a concert taking place in Windsor in the evening), and ‘The Big Help Out’ community activity on the bank holiday, Monday 8 May. ‘Street Parties’ or ‘Street Meets’ are also a great way to bring people together to celebrate across the weekend or as part of the ‘Big Lunch’.
The Big Lunch
will take place the day after the Coronation. The Big Lunch is a very simple idea from the Eden Project and was first held in 2009. The aim was to encourage as many people as possible across the whole of the UK to have lunch with their neighbours annually on the first Sunday in June. Big Lunches were a major part of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond and Platinum Jubilees. More information can be found here: Eden Project Big Lunch
Should you wish to hold a Street Party as part of the Big Lunch then more information about how to go about this is here: Govt Guidance about hosting street parties. Street Meets are often an easier way to bring neighbours together as it doesn’t include street closures. Information about Street Meets are on The Street Party Website.
The Big Help Out
The Big Help Out, on 8 May, will provide an opportunity to reflect on the legacy of His Majesty’s service and showcase the impact of volunteering within communities. Hundreds of activities are planned for the day by local community groups, organisations and charities including The Scouts, Royal Voluntary Service, National Trust and RNLI. If you wish to get involved and find out how you can lend a hand in your neighbourhood then the Big Help Out Website will point you in the right direction.
Coronation Volunteering Champions
In honour of Their Majesties’ service to the country, The Royal Voluntary Service is launching the Coronation Champions Awards for volunteers, an official Coronation project. Together with Her Majesty The Queen Consort, the awards will celebrate extraordinary volunteers across the country who have been contributing to their communities.
You can nominate volunteers over the age of 14 who may have overcome adversity or discovered creative ways to support their local communities within the last five years in one of the following categories:
Supporting older people
Supporting young people and children
Crisis and welfare
Community
Sports, culture and heritage
Health and care
Sustainability and the environment
Animal welfare
Nominations close at 23:59 on Sunday 2 April, 2023.
Further details and how to nominate can be found on the Royal Voluntary Service Website.
Funding
Funding is available of up to £10,000 for events and activities through the National Lottery Awards for All programme and community groups can apply.
National Lottery Awards for All does not have a deadline, but it can take up to 12 weeks from the point of application submission to receiving funding, which means applications for the Coronation weekend should be made as soon as possible. How to do this can be found on the National Lottery Website.
The Coronation Emblem
The Coronation Emblem (as shown at the head of this page) pays tribute to The King’s love of the natural world, depicting the flora of the four nations in the shape of St Edward’s Crown. It is now available for use for all activities associated with the Coronation including community and national events, publications, retail, and merchandising and is free for all. Further information about it can be found on The Royal Family’s Website.
The Coronation Website
The Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport has launched a Coronation website which includes information for getting involved, a toolkit including templates, a Coronation playlist, regular updates during the run up and a form for submitting events to an interactive map of events taking place during the Coronation Weekend. It can be found here: https://coronation.gov.uk/