Dear residents,
I am writing to update you on the latest plans to mark the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort. The Coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6th May 2023 with a Service which will reflect the Monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in long-standing traditions and pageantry.
While the ceremonial and constitutional events are in London, this is an occasion for anyone to feel involved with the Coronation wherever they are in the country. Therefore we are designing a national programme of events offering opportunities for millions of people in communities right across the United Kingdom to get involved in the celebrations.
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Coronation website We have launched an interactive website – Coronation.gov.uk – which includes key information about the Coronation, links to guidance, information and resources, including campaign material for ways to get involved which you and your constituents can download and use. You will also find guidance on how organisations and businesses can use the official Coronation emblem free of charge for all associated activities. The website includes an interactive map of community events across the country. Please encourage your constituents to add their activities and use it to find out what’s happening in their local area. |
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The Coronation “Big Lunch” The Coronation “Big Lunch” invites neighbours and communities across the United Kingdom to come together to share food and fun on Sunday 7th May 2023, in a nationwide act of celebration and friendship. Tens of thousands of Coronation Big Lunches are expected to take place in every corner of the United Kingdom this May. Please consider how communities in your constituency can get involved. Free downloadable resources will also become available online at www.coronationbiglunch.com to help people and organisations get started with planning. |
The “Big Help Out”
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The “Big Help Out” will take place on Monday 8th May, an additional bank holiday to mark the Coronation, across the UK. In tribute to His Majesty The King’s lifetime of public service, the Big Help Out will encourage people to try volunteering for themselves, highlighting the positive impact volunteering has on communities and good causes across the nation. Please consider supporting this initiative in your constituency on your social media channels and by encouraging local businesses, charities, community organisations and individuals to get behind it. The website, www.thebighelpout.org.uk, will be regularly updated with ways to get involved. |
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Coronation Concert A spectacular Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle will showcase our diverse cultural heritage and see iconic locations across the UK lit up with projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations – “Lighting up the Nation”. In addition to the public ballot, which has allocated tickets on a geographical basis to ensure that people from every region of the United Kingdom are able to attend the concert in Windsor, representatives from charities, youth and community groups from across the country will also be invited and the concert will be shown on screens around the country, making it a truly national event. |
National Lottery funding
National Lottery funding for local community projects in every part of the United Kingdom to celebrate the Coronation will be available from a range of sources, that you can point organisations in your constituency to. Some examples of the funding is below and other lottery distributors have details on their websites.
• Funding from the National Lottery Community Fund is available of up to £10,000 for events and activities across the UK through the National Lottery Awards for All programme. Applications made now will provide funding for events to take place throughout the summer following the Coronation weekend. Funding criteria and terms and conditions are here:https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/under10k
• The National Lottery Heritage Fund will celebrate the Coronation by expanding its UK-wide “New to Nature” partnership programme. Working with Groundwork UK and The Princes Trust, funding will provide new opportunities for young people to engage with heritage and get involved with the natural environment and landscapes. The National Lottery Heritage Fund will create traineeships for young people from diverse and economically disadvantaged backgrounds to begin new careers in environmental organisations.
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Schools Competition On behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the Ideas Foundation is inviting schools and colleges across the United Kingdom to take part in a challenge to create poster designs in celebration of the Coronation themes of community, diversity, sustainability and youth – #coronationgeneration. The Ideas Foundation is running a national challenge to select entries for display on digital advertising sites around the UK, with the potential to be viewed by thousands of people every day. I would invite all MPs to encourage schools and colleges in their constituencies to take part and there is also the opportunity for MPs to run a local challenge. The Ideas Foundation will send you a personalised digital toolkit with all the resources needed to run a local challenge, including all the entries from your constituency as well as ideas on selecting and displaying selected entries. Toolkits can be requested by emailing: [email protected] and more information is available at http://coronationgeneration.org |
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Further information In addition to the ceremonial events in London and the community activities outlined above, we anticipate that local authorities will want to organise and facilitate local celebratory events. We also expect that communities will want to host their own celebrations and the Government has written to local authorities in England asking them to support residents who want to organise street parties for their neighbours. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ guidance on organising street parties in England can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/your-guide-to-organising-a-street-party/your-guide-to-organising-a-street-party. We are working with devolved administrations to support and encourage similar activities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. You may want to engage with your own local authorities to understand their plans to encourage street parties and any other plans they might have to celebrate the Coronation, including at public viewing sites showing the Coronation Service and Coronation Concert. More than £1 million has been made available by my department to allow more than 30 UK locations to host big screens to show the Coronation. More details, including a full list of locations hosting screens can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/big-screens-to-go-up-across-the-country-to-show-coronation |