What do British people like doing at the weekends?

British people (families, especially) usually spend their weekends with their families. On Saturday and Sunday people normally go shopping. That is why all shops are so crowded at this time.

In past few years shops were not permitted to open on a Sunday. Nowadays Sundays already became like any other day with open shops. And some families prefer to spend their time shopping rather than visiting church.

Year after year, Britain is becoming less Christian country, with fewer people who is supporting the idea of going to Church every Sunday. But there are some Christian’s who think that Sunday should be considered as a special time given to worshipping God.

How do people spend their free time?

   1) Television

This is the most common activity in the UK. According to the statistics, the average time spent on watching TV is 25 hours per person per week. Television programmes are mostly about gardening, cooking, holidays, animals and wildlife. These are common television programmes UK society watch:

- DIY programs (means “do it yourself”). They are very popular because many people love spending their time by decorating their homes and gardens.

-Drama and sitcoms(“Men Behaving Badly”, “Inspector Morse”, “Cracker”)

-Soaps(“Eastenders”, “Coronation Street”, “Emmerdale”, “Neighbours”, “Home and Away”)

-Reality programmes(“Big Brother”)

-American programmes(“Friends”, “Will and Grace”, “Frasier”, “Sabrina the teenage witch”, “The Simpsons”).

2) Radio

People in UK listen to an average 15 hours and 50 minutes of radio each week.

The most famous radio station people listen to is “Top 40”(pop music chart).  

   3) Digital Devices

According to the statistics done by the UK government, 88% of Great Britain households had a CD player and 79% a mobile phone (2005/06).

56% of households in UK had a desktop computer, 30% had a laptop, and 7% had a handheld computer. 

   4) Entertaining 

Another popular activity in UK is visiting friends or relatives.

   5) Cinema

In 1998 visiting the cinema is became the most popular outdoor activity in UK. British people made 123 million visits to the cinema.

   6) Eating out

Sometimes people prefer to go eat out. The average price eating in normal restaurant may be around 20 pounds sterling (without alcohol drinks).

   7) Homes and Gardens

Gardening became a popular activity back from Roman times. British are proud of their gardens.

     8) Pubs

“Pub”-is short for Public house. There are around 60 000 pubs in the UK. Pub is an important part of British life. People normally go to pub to meet fiends, socialize, eat, talk and relax. Pubs have traditional names which date back over 600 years. Here are some of them:

-The Chequers

-The White Swan

-The Crown

-The King’s Arms

-The Red Lion

-The White Horse

9) Sports

Football is the most popular sport in UK.

Reference:Projectbritain.com. 2013. Spare time (Leisure) in England, Britain, UK. [online] Available at: http://projectbritain.com/weekends.htm [Accessed: 3 Dec 2013].

Prepared by Mohira