THE Friends of Navigation Rec’s group is gearing up for its annual Big Lunch on June 11.

The event, which takes place between 11.30am and 3pm, will feature a range of bike related activities, including 'Dr Bike' repairs and a Grip Adventure bike skills challenge.

There will also be a chance for visitors to admire the new benches and bins the Friends have installed in the Altrincham park over the past year.

The Big Lunch is an open invitation for residents and park users to come and picnic with friends, family and neighbours in the green haven.

Visitors are encouraged to bring a picnic, park games, cakes for the cake stall and Food Bank donations.

There will be live music, refreshments for sale and the chance to have a go at archery, rounders and a host of other park games.

This year’s theme is BIKES! The Friends are delighted to welcome back ‘Dr Bike’ from Transport for Greater Manchester to provide bike safety checks.

This can include adjusting brakes and saddle height, realigning handlebars, ensuring correct tyre pressure, lubrication of chains, repairing punctures and other small on-site fixes where possible. The ‘doctor’ also provides advice about more complex repair or servicing requirements, and can answer general questions about cycle maintenance and cycling.

Cyclists are urged to bring their bikes to be checked over for free.

Youth adventure activity provider Grip Adventure will be challenging riders to complete their bike skills course, and also selling reconditioned bikes that have been restored by young people learning new skills during Grip Adventure projects.

The group will also be celebrating the installation of its new benches and bins installed as part of a £2400 grant won by public vote at the 2015 Trafford Council Voluntary Sector Fair.

The chairman of the Friends of Navigation Recreation Ground, Beth Evens, said: “Seating in the park was completely inadequate with only one bench outside the play area. With our new benches it is possible for those with limited mobility to walk in the park with more opportunities for rest and relaxation.”

The Big Lunch is an Eden Project scheme to get neighbours and communities eating and meeting together on an annual date in June.

Friends of Navigation Rec’s previous Big Lunches in 2015 and 2016 each saw more than 100 people picnic together in the park, the largest communal events in the park in recent memory.