SW unites for The Great Get Together in memory of Jo Cox

People across the South West will attend hundreds of events this weekend to commemorate the anniversary of Jo Cox’s murder.

The Great Get Together will see everything from street parties and barbecues to bake-offs and Iftars from 16-18 June, in celebration of everything we have in common.

The Great Get Together have teamed up with The Big Lunch, which has organised annual neighbourhood celebrations since 2009, and has moved its annual event to coincide with the anniversary.

Highlights include a community sing-along at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on Friday, with all the songs themed around strength and unity.

Elsewhere, Cultivate Cornwall will host a Big Lunch Share Fare in Bodmin Sunday 18 June, where up to 800 people are expected to visit the ‘no money market’ to swap clothes, toys, games, books, plants, and much more. Visitors will be able to enjoy tea and cake on the lawn of Priory Park, or taste food made by Cornwall’s Thai Community.

Nina Cooper, Paignton, is holding a Big Lunch on Saturday 17 June in the newly opened  Community Café and Info Hub. The community-led cafe provides support for locals through housing information and employment opportunities, as well as offering craft clubs and a place to connect with other locals. Attendees are encouraged to bring food to share with others on the day, and browse local craft stalls.

Nina says: “Our main aim for this event is to simply bring the community together for a wonderful afternoon: a chance for people to meet up and make new friends.”

The Great Big Walk, an idea from the Eden Project funded by the National Lottery, has seen five teams of walkers on an epic UK trek walking up an appetite for The Big Lunch, the UK’s annual get-together for neighbours.

Two women from Cornwall, Jane Knight and Judy Thorn (both employees of the Eden Project) have been participating in The Great Big Walk. Bristolian Jackie Davis also participated in the Cornwall route, and is holding her first ever Big Lunch for her neighbours in Bristol over the weekend. The Cornwall walkers will also end their journeys simultaneously at their own Big Lunch.

The Great Get Together is a nationwide event that will see communities come together in what is expected to be the biggest expression of national unity since the Diamond Jubilee. It is inspired by Jo Cox’s maiden speech in parliament, when she said: “we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us”.

Over 100,000 events are expected to take place across the UK over the weekend.

The Great Get Together also has the backing of over one hundred other organisations - from Help for Heroes to Amnesty International, the RNLI to the RSPB, the Scouts, the Guides, The Rotary Club, The Women's Institute and The Premier League.

Brendan Cox, Jo’s husband, said: “In the last few weeks we have been awed by the scale of the reaction to the idea of the Great Get Together taking place this weekend.  The Great Get Together is the very simple idea of getting together with our neighbours and sharing food.

“We are already aware of almost 120,000 events across the country from street parties to barbecues and picnics - and I know that that is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

“Communities coming together in this way is more important now than ever.  After the election and even more so after the horrific attacks in Manchester and London there is a huge ground swell of people who just want to focus on the things that unite us, who want to draw closer to their neighbours and communities. I think people are sick of the narrative of hatred and division that neither represents who they are nor our country.

“We hope these events give us all a moment - as my wife talked about in her maiden speech - to focus on the things we have in common. These events were inspired by Jo and mark her anniversary, but I hope they play a wider role in bringing us closer together. I also hope they are fun, full of energy and laughter. That’s what Jo would have wanted.”

Peter Stewart, Eden Project Executive Director said: “The Big Lunch is about encouraging people to come out for a bite to eat in a simple act of friendship and fun. Everyone benefits when we come together, something The Great Big Walk has highlighted as our walkers have made countless new community connections right across the UK. They have been welcomed with open arms, and fed generously, inspiring us all about the possibilities for communities everywhere. We want to help people get to know each other and hope more neighbours than ever hold a Big Lunch this year and join us for The Great Get Together celebrations as we share what we have in common.”

Faith Collingwood, Community Projects Producer at Theatre Royal Plymouth, said: “We're absolutely delighted to be part of The Great Get Together, bringing some our community groups together along with Theatre Royal Plymouth staff for this unique community singalong. We hope it will be an uplifting morning of music and mingling, a chance for some of our groups to get to know each other better and emphasising that the theatre, whatever your background, really is a place for everyone to come together.”