Making your Platinum Jubilee event the best party ever
In the UK, we’ve held street parties to celebrate national events for more than 100 years. The celebrations for HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will continue this great tradition.
Celebrations and street parties are taking place on Thank You Day, Sunday 5 June 2022, and Scouts will play a leading part. Have you organised an event yet, or are planning to join one?
Street parties are brilliant for bringing your community together. After the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is a fantastic opportunity to create a sense of togetherness, reconnect with our neighbours, and celebrate this joyous, historic milestone.
We’d love you to mark this special occasion, and bring your community together in any way you can. If you’re hoping to hold a street party over the bank holiday weekend, we’ve got advice to help you get organised.
Why we're celebrating
HM The Queen is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee over the double bank holiday weekend of Thursday 2 June to Sunday 5 June. Her reign is the longest of any British monarch, so it’s the first time our nation’s celebrated a Platinum Jubilee.
As Scouts, the Jubilee is an extra special occasion. The Monarch’s been our Patron since 1910, which means HM The Queen has been our Patron ever since she acceded to the throne in 1952.
This means we're also celebrating her 70-year-long dedication to our movement – an outstanding legacy of encouragement, kindness and service.
It’s not just HM The Queen we’re celebrating, either. On Sunday 5 June, it’s National Thank You Day, giving us even more of a reason to get together over the bank holiday. Thank You Day is all about saying a huge thank you to all those who make our communities better places to live.
In Scouts, we’ll be saying an extra special thank you to our volunteers, whose hard work and dedication helps us give young people skills for life (and memories they’ll remember forever).
Tips for hosting a street party to celebrate
Get yourselves in the celebratory spirit and start planning for your event as early as you can. Early planning’s also key if you need to contact your local council about street closures.
Make sure you spread out the organising and help each other out, so there’s not one person left with the hard work. By working together, there’s no doubt you’ll enjoy a successful, fun-filled street party.
As well as activity planning and decoration making, it’s crucial you consider the safety of your community, risks, and check your insurance allows you to run the event.
If the event and activities are allowed under POR, then the Scout groups organising the events will be covered in the Scouts Public Liability policy.
If you’re running a street party, make sure you’ve got permission from your local council. You don’t need a license, but your council might need you to fill out a simple application form. They might also ask for a copy of the Public Liability certificate, which you can get from Unity. There’s more information on the government website.
A safety risk assessment will make sure there’s no potential harm or danger involved with your event, and can help you see whether it’s accessible for all. Consider the safety and needs of your community and make you’re following common sense precautions.
For more information or any questions about running your street party, please get in touch with Unity on 0345 040 7703 and they'll be happy to help. You can also take a look at their 'How to' guide for arranging event insurance.
Once you know you can go ahead with your street party, start thinking about activities and games for keeping everyone entertained.
We’ve got loads of special Jubilee-themed activities, such as Brilliant bunting and Royal bakes. You can also find other activities and resources on the Platinum Jubilee website.
As part of HM The Queen’s Green Canopy, your Group could plant a tree in your community for the Jubilee.
Your Group could also mail a thank you letter to HM The Queen to show your appreciation, or invite a local Queen’s Scout in your area to inspire your young people.
We’re sure you’re hoping to provide lots of yummy food for your community to enjoy. When sorting out food, remember to consider allergies, intolerances, and preferences.
Get some alternatives, such as vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options, so there’s something for everyone.
Why not sign up for The Big Jubilee Lunch, too? It’s a nationwide event, taking place in communities all over the UK between 2 and 5 June. Organised by Eden Project Communities, signing up to a pack gives you lots of inspiration, recipes and invitations for hosting your own Big Lunch.
We want everyone to enjoy and take part in the celebrations, so making sure your event’s accessible for everyone is key. Think about access and make sure any activities and games you run are suitable for all ages, ability and backgrounds.
It’s not truly a party until there’re decorations! We’d love you to create your own bunting with your Group, which spells out ‘Thank you to our Patron HM The Queen’ and ‘Thank you to all Scouts volunteers.'
There’re also some brilliant posters on the Thank You Day website, which you can download, print and display at your street party. You could even scatter a few across along the tables, or share digital versions on your local Facebook pages.
By bringing your community together at a Jubilee street party, you’ll be meeting a lot of new faces and names (or maybe you’ve forgotten some since the pandemic).
Handing out sticky labels for people to write their names on will let your community know who you are.
With the Thank You Day team, we’re putting together a digital chain of thanks on our social media channels, and we’d love to take part. The idea is that you post a video saying thank you to someone, then ask them to do the same. Stay tuned – we’ll be sharing more on this later.
Take some photos and videos of your celebrations, so you can treasure the day in your memories.
Sharing invitations and posters, and creating posts for social media, will help you spread the word about your street party and encourage your community to stop by.
- Humberside Scouts have a Platinum party for over 500 planned for the weekend, as well as the Jubilee Lunch on Sunday 5 June.
- Stockport District Scouts have a full District Jubilee camp planned between Thursday and Sunday
- 6th Gosport Rowner Air Scout Group are holding a family fun-day Jubilee lunch, and a Thank You Day event on Sunday 5 June. 250 are coming so far!
- 6th Stafford–Trinity are holding a special Jubilee Group Camp, Thursday to Sunday, with lots of Royal/Jubilee activities. This includes designing bunting/flags, a 1950’s–themed lunch, a Jubilee picnic, and of course – lighting a Jubilee beacon!
- Jersey Scouts are organising a Thank You event for their adult volunteers on Monday 6 June.
- 24th Lincoln (Saxilby) Scouts and Saxilby Girlguiding are holding a Jubilee Tea Party on Saturday 4 June, and the Scouts are demonstrating raft building and piloting at the village festival on Sunday 5 June.
- 14th Chelmsford are holding a Jubilee picnic.
- 11th Barry Sea Scouts are having a Tea Party on Saturday 4 June.
- Beavers at 1st Cranbourne Scouts, are doing a 1–night Jubilee stop over.
We know many of you are still in the early stages of getting back together post-pandemic, so don’t worry if you’re not able to host a street party. There’s still plenty other ways to join in the celebrations!
You could organise smaller celebrations with your Group, your neighbours, or family and friends.
Whatever you have planned, enjoy the celebrations.
