Join the Campaign to Keep Sundays Special
The campaign to Keep Sundays Special is not just for religious people. It’s inspired by countries like Switzerland (where you are not allowed to make lots of noise at weekends) and the US town of Loma Linda (where people are religious, and live to around 100 on average, because they rest one day a week).
In Europe, many shops (often in Catholic countries) shut on Sundays, as it’s acknowledged to be important not to just enjoy a day of rest, but to let them compete with supermarkets.
In England, people go shopping on Sundays, people make lots of noise, and supermarkets open (leaving indie shops going to the wall, as they need to shut one day a week, to get some rest).
Not many realise that you do have certain legal rights, if you don’t want to work Sundays. Citizens Advice has good info. But if you refuse – they may find some other way to fire you?
Stores over 280 square metres are now allowed to open for 6 continuous hours on Sundays, but not allowed to open on Easter Sunday or Christmas Day.
Long Living People Don’t Work Sundays
Dr Ellsworth Wareham was a vegan cardiologist in Loma Linda (a Californian town where most people don’t work at weekends). Apart from emergency staff, which likely he was sometimes.
He lived a healthy vegetarian clean-living life, and lived well over 100. He said the worst thing was when the patients looked up at him just before he operated, and saw how old he was!
Do not let Sunday be taken from you. If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan. Albert Schweitzer
On Ghana’s coastline, no fishing is allowed on Tuesday, to give the sea time to replenish. Mohandas Gandhi took each Monday as a day of total silence. Try it. One day a week. It could be merely a question of doing nothing. Jonathan Schorsch
The Influence of Faith
Of course, some people choose to rest on Sundays (or Saturday for Jews) as a day of rest. It’s good for anyone to have a day when you consider life and death, and are not focused on what’s on sale at the shops.
Years ago, everyone went to church on Sundays, then returned home to make dinner and spend time with the family. It’s simply a tradition.
Many of us who are not monarchists can see the appeal of people watching the royal family, who often gather at Sandringham or Sunday services. It’s simply tradition, and it feels nice.
Protecting Worker Rights
Today (even though legally they can say no), many workers feel pressured to work on Sundays, as otherwise there may be another reason to let them go.
In Germany, ‘blue laws’ means big shops are closed on Sundays, so people can rest, and workers in Austria and Poland also get a ‘guaranteed pause’, knowing that time off matters.
Parents get to see their children who are at school on weekends, and this can support mental health and physical health too (rest!)
What Makes a Restful Sunday?
Time spent outdoors is nice – going for walks, or just spending time in the nature or garden. You might spot neighbours out for a stroll or meet someone walking their dog.
Read more on no-dig gardening and humane slug/snail deterrents. If you live with animal friends, read up on pet-friendly gardens (some recommended flowers and fruit trees are not safe). Also avoid netting to protect food (just leave some for wildlife!)
A gentle cycle through the countryside or reading a book or watching films (good black-and-white weepies are always on Sunday afternoons!)
Sunday Best (travels through the day of rest)
Sunday Best is a delightful charming and restful read (which you could enjoy on a Sunday!), asking whether we have as a society forgotten how to ‘do Sunday’. Years ago, it was the day when you went to the church, didn’t go to work, enjoy a Sunday roast and had a bath, followed by rest.
This book has the unique idea of following people around the world, looking at how they enjoy the day of rest. From closed shops and bulky newspapers to strolls to nowhere in particular (and visiting snoozing grandparents), has anything interesting ever happened on a Sunday?
And if it does, should we now try to recapture that unhurried Sunday feel, and learn once again to do nothing much at all. Through a mix of travelogue and history, the stories are told from people in the Hebrides to Hyde Parks, via Sunderland, Scarborough and the Peak District.
As light-hearted social history, it slips down as easily as the first pint of a Sunday lunchtime. And packed with pub-quiz winning nuggets of information. Times Literary Supplement
Gray writes like Lowry paints. Superb. BBC Lancashire
Daniel Gray is a writer, broadcaster and magazine editor from York. He has published many books on football and social history.
