10
Years
Running
5,000+
Total Attendees (cumulative)
15+
Partner Organisations
55+
Volunteers Involved
A neighbourhood that had lost faith in itself, and needed a reason to gather
Canley is a diverse, working-class neighbourhood on the doorstep of the University of Warwick, but for years, the two existed in parallel worlds. Anti-social behaviour, petty crime, and broken promises from a major regeneration project had eroded community trust. Residents felt disconnected from each other and from the institutions around them. Stakeholders, schools, churches, the library, the council were working in silos with limited impact.
When the newly landscaped Prior Deram Park was vandalised shortly after opening, it felt like a defining low moment. Nor's daughter and her classmates wrote a letter about how sad they felt. That letter became a spark. Nor organised a small picnic in the park, a simple act of reclaiming a shared space. It was modest. It was hopeful. And it worked.
That picnic became the Canley Big Lunch, now one of Coventry's most celebrated free community events, run every summer for a decade and growing year on year.
Project Name
The Canley Big Lunch
Dates
June/July annually, 2016–2025 (ongoing)
Location
Prior Deram Park, Canley, Coventry (occasional indoor events at Canley Community Centre)
Funder(s)
Positive Images Festival (2016 micro-grant), Tesco Cannon Park Community Grant, West Midlands Police Active Citizen Grant (2017–2020), Heart of England Inclusive Community Fund, Warwick University donation, CV Life (2025–2026 sponsor)
Lead Producer
Dr. Nor Aziz, Champion Inclusivity CIC (formerly via Uniting Communities Foundation)
Project Type
Free annual community event / social cohesion / intergenerational celebration
Audiences Reached
Families, older residents, children, international students, global majority communities, faith groups, lone residents — Canley and wider Coventry
Scale
300 attendees (2016) growing to 1,200 attendees (2025)
STEP 1 — LISTEN
Before a single marquee was booked, Nor spent months at Pop-Up Cafés and library gatherings listening to what Canley residents actually wanted. The consistent feedback was simple: they wanted a space where they could meet their neighbours, feel proud of their area, and celebrate without barriers. Free food, outdoor space, and no agenda — just connection.
STEP 2 — CO-CREATE
Nor brought together a coalition that had never fully collaborated before: Canley Community Centre, the local library, Charter Primary Academy, Westwood Academy, Community Church, St Stephen's Church, ward councillors, and Warwick University. The Playing Out in Canley steering group — co-chaired by Nor — became the planning engine, with residents and institutions designing the event together. Warwick Volunteers students ran craft stalls. Local businesses donated supplies. Ward councillors helped set up marquees and served food.
STEP 3 — DELIVER
Each summer, Prior Deram Park is transformed. Tables overflow with home-cooked food — Halal, vegan, and child-friendly options carefully chosen to welcome every background. The Canley Samba Band leads the energy. CV Life provides sports and games. Craft activities for all ages run throughout the afternoon. Local organisations host information stalls — the library, family hub, community centre — so residents discover what's available in their own neighbourhood. The atmosphere is festive, warm, and genuinely free. What makes the Big Lunch different from a typical community event is the intentional design. No beef (respecting Hindu dietary needs). No pork, no alcohol (respecting Muslim values). No activities linked to gambling. Every decision reflects Nor's principle that true inclusion is designed — not assumed.
STEP 4 — REFLECT
Every year, feedback is gathered informally and through partner reporting. Over 95% of attendees consistently report feeling more connected to their community after attending. The steady growth in attendance — from 300 in 2016 to 1,200 in 2025 — is itself evidence that the event has earned deep community trust. Nor uses each year's learning to adapt: new activities for teenagers in 2023 reduced youth anti-social behaviour concerns near the park. The 2025 partnership with CV Life marked a new chapter, bringing professional sports infrastructure and long-term sponsorship stability
10
Years
Running
5,000+
Total Attendees (cumulative)
15+
Partner Organisations
55+
Volunteers Involved
The Canley Big Lunch is more than a summer event. It has become the anchor around which community confidence, civic pride, and institutional trust have been rebuilt in one of Coventry's most deprived neighbourhoods.
Over ten years, Nor has demonstrated that consistent, well-designed free community events are not charity — they are infrastructure. When people gather, they talk. When they talk, they organise. When they organise, they advocate. The Big Lunch has been the catalyst for residents challenging anti-social behaviour, campaigning to keep the library open, and demanding better services from the council.
Coventry has a 45% population from global majority communities. Canley reflects that diversity. The Big Lunch is one of very few spaces in the city where all of those communities sit at the same table — literally.
Year-on-year attendance growth demonstrating deepening community trust:
2016
300 attendees
2017
400 attendees
2018
500 attendees
2019
650 attendees
2023
800 attendees
2024
1000 attendees
2025
1200 attendees
Additional outcomes
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CV Life joined as a formal partner and sponsor for 2025–2026
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Playing Out in Canley steering group established as a community-led governance structure
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Event directly inspired the launch of the Canley Parade in 2021
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Community garden initiated as a direct legacy of increased community engagement
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Helped prevent the closure of Canley Library by demonstrating community investment
The Canley Big Lunch brought together an extraordinary coalition across a decade
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Warwick University — park booking support, Warwick Volunteers craft activities, academic partnership
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Warwick Arts Centre — creative mentorship and production support
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Warwick Institute of Engagement — strategic partnership, Nor's Regional Fellowship
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CV Life — sports, games, and formal sponsorship (2025–2026)
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Canley Community Centre — venue, logistics, and in-kind support
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Canley Library — information stalls, community outreach
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Charter Primary Academy & Westwood Academy — promotion, youth participation
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Community Church & St Stephen's Church — free food provision, community mobilisation
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West Midlands Police — active citizen grants (2017–2020), community safety partnership
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Coventry City Council Community Resilience Team — strategic support
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Heart of England Foundation — grant funding
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Playing Out in Canley Steering Group — community-led planning and governance
![firstharvest_parkchoi_july2019[2].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9d3def_46d08e8964ff42ca95a405c39d141db4~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_296,h_458,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/firstharvest_parkchoi_july2019%5B2%5D.jpg)
Nor's role was to bridge these organisations — connecting institutional resources with grassroots community energy to create something neither could have achieved alone.
This is our fifth community Big Lunch event and the best so far. We had over 700 visitors which had doubled the previous number. We had an encouraging increase in teenagers involved — the assault course had Mums and daughters, siblings and many others queuing from start to finish. Everyone had a great time and showed a great sense of community spirit.”
Community observer, 2023
As a dedicated Community Organiser and Producer, Nor is an invaluable asset to Coventry's cultural and social landscape. Her unwavering passion for breaking down barriers, creating meaningful opportunities, and nurturing the confidence, skills, and experience of local communities to step into leadership roles is both inspiring and deeply authentic.
Head of Creative Learning, Warwick Arts Centre
Seeing everyone from different backgrounds sitting side by side over food — that's what belonging looks like
Dr. Nor Aziz, Founder
The Canley Big Lunch demonstrates that funded community events are not one-off outputs — they are long-term investments in social infrastructure. Each year's event seeds the next. Each partnership becomes a building block. Each resident who attends leaves feeling slightly more connected, slightly more heard, and slightly more willing to show up again.
What began as a small picnic to reclaim a vandalised park became the heartbeat of an entire neighbourhood.
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The Big Lunch directly inspired and seeded the Canley Parade, which launched in 2021
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The community energy generated led to the founding of Champion Inclusivity CIC in 2022
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The Playing Out in Canley steering group — now a permanent community governance structure — grew from Big Lunch planning meetings
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CV Life, the West Midlands' major arts and sport provider, joined as formal partner for 2025–2026 — a significant institutional endorsement
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The Big Lunch has become a model cited by Coventry City Council as an example of community-led regeneration
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It directly contributed to Canley Library remaining open — community voice amplified through the event led to a successful campaign
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International students from Warwick University now regularly attend, breaking the longstanding divide between the university and the local community
Dr. Nor Aziz is the founder and creative director of Champion Inclusivity CIC. A Malaysian-born community producer, researcher, and artist with a PhD from the University of Warwick, Nor has spent over two decades building bridges between cultures, generations, and faiths in Coventry and beyond.
Credentials
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PhD, University of Warwick
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Board Director, Coventry Culture Trust
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Regional Fellow, Warwick Institute of Engagement
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Cultural Representative, Coventry Culture Compact
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20+ funded community projects delivered
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50%+ grant success rate
