The Patron's Lunch

On a rainy Sunday morning in June we joined 10,000 others on The Mall to celebrate the life of service The Queen has offered to charities throughout the world.

The rain may have dampened our clothes, but it didn't dampen our spirits. We had invitied community heroes from across the country to join us on the day and the atmosphere was fantastic.

A veritble sea of colours, feathers, glitter, and dancing paraded next to us as we shared a meal together and learnt from each other about the amazing work taking place in the CUF network throughout England.

We spoke to some of the community heroes to find out about why they'd been nominated to attend the Patron's Lunch and what it was like to be there on the day.

Sam and his were wife, Hannah, were amongst the guests and he told us about what he enjoyed most about the day, "Personally, I'm a bit of a royal fan, so I've been a bit star struck today; it's been an incredible, intimate event with the royal family and they've been very welcoming towards everyone here." Hear more of Sam and Hannah's thoughts below.

Sam Interview

Your browser does not support the audio element.

You can also hear the thoughts of Rev Raphael and his wife Alison from the Black Country. They talk about the work that earnt them a place at the Patron's Lunch and what it was like to be there.

Raphael Interview

Your browser does not support the audio element.

And the thoughts of Soroush and his wife Mahvash. They travelled from Middlesbrough and talk about their transformative work with refugees and Asylum Seekers and what it meant for them to celebrate with The Queen.

Soroush Interview

Your browser does not support the audio element.

Christ Church Southgate

Festivities were also taking place away from The Mall. Over at Christ Church Southgate there was a Royal Garden Party taking place to celebrate and to raise funds for Church Urban Fund.