Have a stay at home VE Day celebration!

In 1945 families across the nation celebrated the long awaited news that World War 2 was over.  While this year, due to social distancing, we can’t get together with friends and family to celebrate and have parties as planned, there are still lots of things we can all do to celebrate safely at home!

1.Get crafty

There are lots of online resources with everything from make your own bunting to posters for display in your window!

Take a look at The VE-VJ Day 75 toolkit which has templates, including thank you cards to place in your windows and colouring-in posters.  For more inspiration and ideas, you could also have a look at Baker Ross and Twinkl (which has made some resources free to download for a limited time).

2.Get Cooking

Our Community Skills Team have shared three great recipes inspired by war time ingredients for you to try!

Potatoes were commonly used during the War due to other ingredients being rationed or unavailable, try our Potato Scones which make a great side dish.

Homity Pie is a traditional British open vegetable pie believed to be favoured during the War. This recipe is based on Ministry Food 1940 Ration Book Recipe Experiment – Recipe No. 134

Fresh eggs were scarce during the war and many people had to use powdered egg or look for eggless recipes, our 3 Ingredient Fruit Cake is easy to make, delicious and uses no eggs at all!

We’ve also got a Traditional Wartime Recipe download which contains wartime recipes, using local and available ingredients during and in the years after WW2.  They were shared with us by local people and have been passed down through many generations.

We hope you enjoy them!

You can find out more about our services and get more ideas and recipes on our Healthy Eating page.

3.Get Singing

There’s a national singalong of Vera Lynn’s We’ll meet again at 9pm and you can watch and join in on BBC One.

The Royal British Legion have provided the lyrics on their website.

4. Get Dancing

The Lindy Hop is a swing dance that originated in New York in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and it gained popularity in the UK in the 1940s mainly thanks to the American servicemen stationed here during the Second World War.

It’s great way of getting active and lots of fun so if you fancy giving it a go English Heritage have step by step instructions and there’s loads of videos online too!

There’s even a Spotify playlist to really get you in the mood!

5. Get Researching

Make time to talk on the phone (or by video) to the older members of your family who may have lived through the war and ask them to share memories with you.

Ancestry.co.uk will also be making their resources free between 4 and 10 May which would be great to start researching your family tree!  You can find out more with Dan Snow on You Tube here.

Dan has also set a VE Day challenge for young people and members of the public on a dedicated website.

Finally, let’s all remember…

• Pause for a Two Minute Silence at 11am and watch stories and memories from those who served and sacrificed during the Second World War
• Join ‘The Nation’s Toast’ at 3pm – raise a glass or cup to the heroes of WWII (broadcast starts at 2.45pm on BBC1)
• Watch further VE Day 75 special broadcasts on the BBC, including extracts from Churchill’s famous victory speech and Her Majesty The Queen addressing the nation at 9pm

If you’ve found this resource useful, then you may also be interested in our Family Activities Online resource which lists a range of fantastic online activities and ideas for all ages to help keep people active, learning, healthy and happy during Covid-19 and beyond!