Here are some tried and tested event ideas
Food or 'Meals with a message'
Everybody enjoys a meal and you can cover lots of issues related to OWW's concerns and find ways to link them to the theme.
Hold a shared meal: evening supper, lunch, coffee morning or even a breakfast before work. Invite friends, neighbours and colleagues new and old. Highlight fair trade, local and organic food and drinks and their role in shaping a more equitable and enduring future for people and the natural environment.
Have a multicultural meal with recipes from the different cultural groups in your locality and reflect on what you can do together today in sharing and caring for your communities that will contribute to a peaceful and equitable community for your children.
Invite an after dinner speaker to raise issues about the theme.
Print off some quotations from our themed collection and scatter them about the tables to start people talking about them
Use our Grace Across Faiths resource to add an inter faith dimension.
Walks or cycle tours
Gather people together to WALK through the town, giving out One World Week leaflets. Show solidarity with thousands of others who are concerned about the challenges of the OWW theme.
Plan prominent places for the procession group to stop & reflect and take action, making a statement surrounding the theme. Invite local media to cover the event.
If you like CYCLING visit the website of our partner', 'MADE in Europe' to see how young Muslims in London have developed this idea. You could do it for awareness raising amongst participants, sponsors and spectators as well as fundraising.
Talks/discussions
Invite key speakers from a range of faith groups to speak on how their faith responds to the ideas in the annual theme
Hold a "Question time" type event and invite people to speak on aspects of the theme.
Ensure you have a range of views and you'll have a great discussion - get people to make pledges at the end about what they will do differently. They could write their own or choose one from OWW's range of pledges see Resources (pledges)
Inter-cultural celebrations
Cultural music, dance and poetry are great ways to involve members of your community in gathering together and celebrating diversity. Invite local schools, scout groups and faith groups to participate in an evening of entertainment. Invite everyone to write or choose a OWW pledge about what they will do in relation to the theme and join in with an existing campaign, or alternatively, to create one that is relevant to your community. (We will have a list of pledges available specifically focussed on this year's theme but you can easily select some from previous years' lists, check out our pledges resources) Use OWW's Islamic and Christian Perspective Presentations as starting points to introduce these two faith perspectives.
Sports
Friendly matches or fierce competitions between parents and children, or employees and employers, can be a fun way to bring people together. Ask a prominent member of the community to open the event. Using the theme, ask everyone to reflect on what they can do to create a fairer more enduring way of living. Raise money for OWW or for another charity relevant to the annual theme.
Worship
Encourage your faith community to look at ways to interpret the annual theme, at home, in the community and in the world. Use the OWW worship resources
Worship with the world: A great way to widen out the walls of your building is to link up with others by having a live phone interview (on Skype projected on to big screen would be great!), as OWW supporters did in Ulverston Methodist Church. They used a mobile phone and amplifier and asked people in churches in Australia, estonia and the USA to lead intercessory prayers with the congregation and then talk on topics related to the theme.
"It was a most moving experience to be led by someone thousands of miles away ... it really did make us feel part of one world" (Rev. T. Wells)
Find examples of events reported by their organisers on the Case Study page - here.
Don't forget to publicise your event/s on this website -visit the Events page - here
News
Press Releases
Newsletters
(November 2016)
(October 2016)
(September 2016)
(August 2016)
Recently Added Resources
New Funding Opportunity - The Common Good Fund - Application Deadline 27 Feb. 2017 see more here
Organisers' Evaluation form for 2016 events Download from here
Wordsearches for Including You events - download them from here
Press release template for 'Including You' events download here
Quotations about building an inclusive peaceful society - Download from here a 5 page booklet as a word.doc or pdf
Pledges to build an inclusive society - find them here
"Who is a Migrant?" - anactivity/game to get people talking to each other at your events. Download the instructions here
School Assemblies from Christian Aid- link to and download a PowerPoint and notes
Looking for a speaker for your event? Download here a list (pdf) from the Discussion page (posted 12 Sept 2016)
Faith resources relating to "Including You".Download pdf here links to materials offered by OWW's partners and supporters: worship, discussion, films ...plus Prayers for OWW(updated 7 Sept '16)
Presentation "A OWW approach to Migration" Download this PDF version of a 12 slides (15 -20 minutes) powerpoint
Need funding for your event? Apply to Big Lottery Celebrate Fund! NOW or you'll be too late for OWW more here and other suggestions
Poster/ flyer design kit - download from here
2016 Leaflets "Including You" download PDF versions here
Introductory PowerPoint about organising local inclusive OWW events - updated for 2016. Down load ppt here
Migrant crisis or poverty crisis? - A briefing paper from Global Justice NOW Download as a PDF here
2016 - "Including You" - Booklet of ideas, links and resources for interpreting the theme. Dowload a PDF here (updated July 2016)
Learning resource/activity for young people about peace - from Fly Kites not Drones; suitable for activites in or out of school. find links here: schools ; activities (added Nov. 2015 but still relevant for this years events)
Organisers' Evaluation Form for event organisers to complete and send to OWW - down load the word.doc from here