The Big Lunch: Whitehead community has an indoor picnic

They simply switched their plans for a picnic to a get-together inside the new Methodist Church halls - although there was still a bouncy castle.

Organiser Noel McKee, who has been putting on the event for several year, said: “It was a simple format as always, just bring a picnic and enjoy a bit of craic with your neighbours.”

Now in its eighth year, The Big Lunch is an idea from the Eden Project - made possible by the Big Lottery Fund - that aims to get as many people as possible to have lunch with their neighbours in a simple act of community, friendship and fun.

Last year there were hundreds of events across Northern Ireland with tens of thousands of people taking part. Across the whole of the UK more than 7.3 million people were involved.

Grainne McCloskey, Partnership manager for The Big Lunch NI, said: “It is great to see another year’s worth of Big Lunches taking place, bringing so many people together in fun and friendship. The benefits for our local communities are enormous and I want to congratulate everyone who helped organise a Big Lunch.”

The Big Lunch can be found @thebiglunch on Facebook and @thebiglunch and #thebiglunch on Twitter.