Today Michael Conlon is enjoying a much deserved Big Lunch after his epic 18-day adventure on The Big Walk comes to an end.
Representing Team Northern Ireland, the 43 year old left Morecambe on Wednesday 16 May, walking up to 15 miles a day, visiting community projects and incredible individuals improving local neighbourhoods across Northern Ireland.
During The Big Walk, the Belfast man has made 34 community stops and met over 80 community organisations at locations including Rathlin Island, Portadown, Enniskillen, Dromboughil and Armagh. Michael has spent the last few days of his journey visiting projects including Garvagh Forest School, the Bellaghy Women’s Group at Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy and OUT North West at the Rainbow Project in Derry~Londonderry.
Reflecting on his experiences during The Big Walk, Michael said:
“I took part in The Big Walk partly because I recently moved back from Dublin to Belfast and I wanted to reconnect with Northern Ireland. What I discovered was that people in communities are really making things happen for themselves and the middle ground is a lot more active and significant than you might imagine.
There is a sense of hopefulness in action across Northern Ireland and a sense of contentment that despite the obvious problems in our society, people power is working and real change is happening.
Everywhere we went on The Big Walk, we were welcomed with open arms. People doing the day-to-day grassroots work in communities often don’t get any recognition and they really appreciated that we took the time to talk to them and listen and share their stories. I also learned that Northern Ireland knows how to make a good sandwich, a fine tray bake and a proper cup of tea!
Overall, what I would say is that if there’s an issue in your area, you don’t have to wait for permission from the authorities to do something about it. Communities themselves have the power to make change happen – take the brave step, get together with like-minded friends and neighbours and get started. There is a real power in connection – start by creating the dots in communities and then start connecting the dots.”
Peter Stewart of the Eden Project, organisers of The Big Walk, added
“It’s been an incredible journey for Michael and all our walkers. With over 100 projects visited this year, we are still only just scratching the surface of what goes on across the country. In every town and city across the UK there are people making a difference to others and we can’t wait to set off again next year and visit even more!”
The Big Walk celebrates and connects the people at the heart of our communities and was designed to encourage neighbours and communities all across the UK to join in The Big Lunch on Sunday 3 June. Thousands of residential streets across Northern Ireland have been closed to traffic today and turned into neighbourly street parties.
First introduced by the Eden Project and made possible by The National Lottery, The Big Lunch is a simple idea – that for a few hours once a year, neighbours and communities come together to share food, friendship and fun where they live.
The event now attracts millions of people and is the UK’s biggest get-together for neighbours. Last year over 9.3 million people took part in over 96,000 events.
Michael was reunited with his family and friends at their Big Lunch at Lagmore in Belfast.
For a full round-up of today’s Big Lunch activity check out www.thebiglunch.com and #TheBigLunch. If you would like to get involved either as a future walker or see a community visit, please contact Communities@
Discover more from LoveBelfast
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
