The Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch

The first Lord Mayor's Big Curry Lunch took place in April 2008, hosted by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress at Guildhall, the centre of the City of London’s governance, ceremonial and philanthropy.

The driving idea behind the Lunch was that it would be a Civic and Guildhall event with a difference: a fixed-price allowing guests unlimited curries and accompanying drinks, no seating plan, guests would serve themselves (and go back for more if they wished), and everyone would sit on benches.

The Lunch has had the unstinting support of each Lord Mayor since 2008.

From its inception, the Lunch has had four core goals:

  • To raise funds to support Soldiers and former Soldiers, both Regulars and Reservists, and their families.
  • To raise awareness in the City community of the role of the Armed Forces of the Crown, particularly in the younger generation of City workers.
  • To build awareness of the three national service charities.
  • To emphasise the breadth and depth of the City’s philanthropy.

That first Lunch attracted 700 guests and raised £143,000. Each year, attendance grew and the Lunch expanded to use all principal rooms in Guildhall, which are generously provided by the Corporation of the City of London. As of June 2025, we have contributed a total of over £4.2 million to help support all members of the Armed Forces.

Since 2019, the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch has aligned with the employment and employability strand of the Civic and Mayoral strategy ‘A Better City For All’, by providing financial support for veterans to take part in two programmes to help veterans in to work.

Be part of an incredible series of events that raise funds to meet the current need to support veterans of HM Armed Forces into employment.

The Lord Mayor's big Curry Lunch Committee

Find out more about the Lord Mayor's Big Curry Lunch Committee
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The Lord Mayor and the founder, Michael Hockney, are the co-chairs of the the LMBCL volunteer Committee.

The Committee meets five times a year and includes:

Retired Senior Officers, Government Ministers, Leading Clergy, Aldermen and Sheriffs of the City of London, the Chief Commoner, more than 20 Livery Masters, Livery Clerks, business and professional leaders in the City and members of the London Lieutenancy, including the Lord Lieutenant and Vice Lord Lieutenant.

The Committee owes a huge debt of gratitude to the Corporation for allowing the Lunch to take place from 2019 onwards without any charges being made, thus helping the Committee to contribute a larger sum each year to support members of the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families in so many different ways.

The Lord Mayor's Big Curry Lunch Committee 2025
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Co-Chairs:

The Rt Hon. the Lord Mayor Alderman Alastair King

Mr Michael Hockney MBE 

 

Vice Patrons

Sir David Lewis

Mr Ian Luder

Mr Nick Anstee

Sir Michael Bear

Sir David Wootton

Dame Fiona Woolf

Sir Alan Yarrow

The Lord Mountevans

Alderman Sir Andrew Parmley

Alderman Sir Charles Bowman

Alderman Sir Peter Estlin

Alderman Sir William Russell

Alderman Vincent Keaveny 

Alderman Sir Nicholas Lyons

Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli

Committee Members 

Mr Jeremy Archer

Mr Azad Ayub

Mr Adrian Bastow

Lady Bathurst

Brigadier Greville Bibby

The Lady Bilimoria

Deputy Keith Bottomley

Mr Michael Bradly-Russell

Mr Jim Cook

Mr Peter Cooper

Sir Michael Craig-Cooper

Brigadier Sean Crane

Colonel Jane Davis

Mr Nick Dutt

Mr Vladislav Dobrokhotov

Lady Caroline Everard

Lady Lucy French

Mr Mark Gallagher

Mr Ian Garrett

Colonel (Retd) Peter Germain  

Mr Andrew Gordon Alderman Alison Gowman

The Hon. Elizabeth Green

Brigadier Tim Gregson

Mr Clive Grimley

Alderman Timothy Hailes

Mr Tom Harris

Mr Chris Hayward

Mr Paul Herbage

Mr Stan Hodges Alderman Robert Howard

Alderman Robert Hughes-Penney

Alderman Gregory Jones

Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC

Lady Mohini Kent Noon
Mr Vaughan Kent-Payne

Alderman and Sheriff Alastair King

Miss Mei Sim Lai

Mr Peter Lane

Mr Gary Langley

Alderwoman Dame Susan Langley Lieutenant General David Leakey

Mrs Susannah Lovis
The Hon Richard Lyttelton

HH Judge Richard Marks KC

Sheriff Andrew Marsden

Mr Simon Martin

Alderman Bronek Masojada

Mrs Jane Masojada

The Right Reverend and Right Hon Dame Sarah Mullally

Mr Lawson Muncaster

Sir Kenneth Olisa

Lieutenant Commander Sarah Pearce

Mr Denis Petropoulos

Mr Paul Pinchbeck

The Lord Howard of Rising

Mr Paul Rochford

Mr Christopher Seow

Mrs Annie Shepperd

Mr Alex Spofforth

Mrs Laura Taylor

Mr Bob Tunks

Mr Cyrus Todiwala

The Very Reverend Andrew Tremlett

Mr Andrew Vaughan

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Vernon

Mr Adrian Waddingham

Commodore Mike Walliker

Mrs Vicki Wentworth

Mr Mark Williams

Mr Philip Woodhouse

Alderman Kawsar Zaman

The City

The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally successful UK.

Guildhall, the Corporation’s headquarters in the City of London, is a remarkable and historic site. Since medieval times, Guildhall has been the administrative centre of the governance of the City.

It is where the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch is held every year, thanks to the support of the Corporation's senior officials, the Court of Aldermen and the Common Council. The Committee is very grateful to the Corporation for the use of Guildhall without any charge. 

The City and the Lord Mayor's Big Curry Lunch are intertwined. Since the first Lunch in 2008, the Lunch has become a staple event in the City calendar with many institutions and businesses offering their support. The Lunch relies on the City in many ways and is grateful for its support.

The Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch has enjoyed the active support of each successive Lord Mayor of the City of London since the first LMBCL in 2008.

The Lord Mayor and the founder of the Lunch, Michael Hockney, co-chair the Committee. The Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress/Lord Mayor’s Consort host the Lunch each year in Guildhall and its three receptions: the launch party; the Launch of the Veterans' Garden in Guildhall Yard; and the the post-Lunch ’Thank You' party, at which we thank all our sponsors and supporters, and announce how much has been raised that year. The Committee meetings are held at the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor’s ‘home’ for his or her year in office.

The Committee is grateful to the Lord Mayor, the Lady Mayoress/Lord Mayor’s Consort and the Sheriffs and their Consorts for their unfailing enthusiasm and support.

In recent years, successive Lord Mayors have collaborated on a long-term strategy to make the Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal work with greater impact. Under the banner of ‘A Better City For All’, the Appeal articulates how the strategy can and will have a transformational impact on peoples' lives in the capital. One of the central pillars of this strategy focuses on the City as a place of leading-edge practice in employment. The Lunch, with its focus on helping veterans prepare for employment, is strongly alighed with this aspect of the Lord Mayor’s strategy.