First UK National Family Week is resounding success
by Adam Nethersole
Between 25th and 31st May 2009 families across the length and breadth of the UK celebrated family life as part of the first National Family Week. Organised by Family Week Ltd, part of Henley Media Group, the new annual national occasion aims to highlight the importance of strong families, to bring families together and encourage debate about the important issues that face families in the UK today.
An amazing 4,048 events took place in the first ever National Family Week, from picnics and pie throwing to story times and sports days. Charities, community groups, sporting associations and sponsors helped to make the week fun for families of all shapes, sizes and ages, running a whole host of activities encouraging families to spend more quality time together. A new World Record was set with thousands of picnickers spreading out their rugs in more than 100 venues on the first day of National Family Week and competitions and prize draws galore added to the fun!
The week attracted an incredible amount of media coverage, with over 1,200 pieces including on This Morning, GMTV and ITV London Tonight, in The Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Independent on Sunday, Daily Express and The Times plus across 32 radio stations and in over 700 regional and local newspapers. The anticipated audience reach is in excess of 20million.
Already the largest coalition on family issues in the UK, National Family Week brings together an impressive range of supporters all concerned with bettering family life in the UK. These include 150 nationwide not-for-profit organisations such as Save the Children, the NSPCC, the National Federation of Women's Institutes and the Football Association; celebrities such as the Duchess of York, Sir Terry Wogan, Antony Worrall Thompson and Esther Rantzen; sponsors ranging from Butlins and Legoland to Bupa and Sainsbury’s; and politicians, including the Prime Minister, David Cameron and Boris Johnson.
Planning for year two is now underway. For more information please visit www.nationalfamilyweek.co.uk or call Jane Nethersole on +44 (0)207 871 0189.
Gail Porter, Sally Gunnell, Antony Worrall Thompson and friends join in the Family Week Picnic in Regent’s Park to mark the start of the first ever National Family Week.