The toast is: England and St George - I'll drink to that!
Don't be alarmed if at 10.45pm on Monday 23 April (St George's Day) everyone around you stops what they are doing, picks up a drink and cries "England and St George!" Everyone who calls England home is being encouraged to celebrate St George's Day by raising a glass (or a mug) to the country and its patron saint.
All over England, people of all ages and nationalities at home, work, in hotels, restaurants and pubs will stop what they're doing to join the Toast. Several thousand of the country's 30,000 or more pubs have already signed up, from the Meadow House, Berwick-upon-Tweed in the north, the Old Inn at the very tip of Cornwall in the west, the Royal Falcon, Lowestoft in the east, to the Atlantic Inn on the Isles of Scilly in the south, and the rest are being encouraged to join in.
Chairman and National Organiser Bruno Peek OBE MVO, who played a major role in many national events over the past 25 years, including The Queen's Golden Jubilee and the Millennium Celebrations says, "I came up with the idea for the National Toast to England and St George because we wanted to find a simple, symbolic way of bringing together people of all ages and nationalities living in England at one moment in time on St George's Day that could be repeated year after year, thus making it an annual event involving the whole country.
"People can raise a cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, soft drink, beer or spirit. It really doesn't matter. What's important is they join in. However, if they want to enter the £1,000 competition for the most unusual location**, they must participate with a bottle of Wells Bombardier English Premium Bitter - the official beer for the Toast to England and St George this year."
Three leading charities, AICR (Association for International Cancer Research), RNID, the leading charity representing the 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK, and WRVS, the leading volunteering organisation helping older people get more out of life (and formerly known as the Women's Royal Voluntary Service), have been chosen to benefit from the fundraising celebrations.
The National Toast, an annual event, is being led jointly by Bruno Peek and Paul Wells, Chairman of Wells & Young's Brewing Company Limited from the glittering St George's Day National Banquet at the Banqueting House in London that evening, using the specially commissioned silver gilt Loving Cup of England. The Cup will have finished its 6,000-mile tour across England's 50 cities, having been officially received by Lord Mayors and Mayors along with people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures between February and April 2007.
For the first time, people who call England home are being encouraged to get together on April 23 with their family, friends and colleagues to recognise and appreciate the country they live in. A recent Ipsos MORI poll revealed that 75 per cent of us think a day of national celebration is a good idea, with seven out of ten keen for it to be made into a bank holiday.
The results are no surprise to Bruno who believes the celebration is long overdue. "We all lead such busy lives that we often fail to appreciate the place we live. England is home to almost 50 million people. They are of multiple nationalities, come from various backgrounds and practice different beliefs and family traditions. However, they share one important factor in common - England is their home," he says.
The organisers hope that on April 23, 2007, people of all ages and from different backgrounds and cultures will get behind the celebrations by organising their own event at home, at work or in their local pub, school or community.
There are also regional and national competitions with big cash prizes including the search to find a Modern Day St George and Rose of England, Best-Dressed Pub, Best-Dressed House and a Schools' Poetry Competition.
Dr John Low, Chief Executive RNID, speaking on behalf of the three charities says: "Our involvement in the St George's Day celebrations seemed a natural partnership to make: just as St George was a champion for the vulnerable and disadvantaged, so our three organisations slay the dragons of injustice, neglect and discrimination that people face everyday. Not only will the celebrations raise vital funds for our work, but the spirit of unity in which they'll be raised will promote equality and inclusion."
Paul Wells, Chairman of Wells and Young's Brewing Company, says: "A few years ago, many people didn't even know what month St George's Day was in, but because of the work of Wells Bombardier has done in raising public awareness, especially in pubs, more and more people are celebrating it.
"There is a real passion for people to celebrate England and Wells Bombardier has built the 23 April into the third busiest day of the year in the pub calendar behind St Patrick's Day and Mother's Day. Research over the years has shown that people want to celebrate but they needed the opportunity - and Wells Bombardier has given them that. It was always our vision for the whole of the country to get behind St George and be proud of the country they live in, and now 'Enjoy England - Celebrate St George's Day' is helping to get the whole nation behind the campaign. What better way to celebrate than to raise a glass of Wells Bombardier in an official toast? We expect people up and down the country to stop at 10:45pm and join in with what we anticipate, to become a great English tradition."
More than 150,000 copies of a free 34-page Guide to Taking Part in the run up to April 23 have been distributed to schools, pubs, councils, organisations and communities around the county. The Guide includes fundraising ideas and competitions and is reproduced on an interactive website www.celebratestgeorgesday.com
