'The Great Get Together': Communities Uniting Nationwide, Celebrating Diversity as Part of Jo Cox’s Legacy

In her maiden parliamentary speech, Jo Cox used it to champion diversity and lead calls for greater unity. Two years since her tragic death, thousands of us will come together to celebrate the late MP’s beliefs

Following her election in May 2015, Jo said: “We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.”

A little more than a year later, on June 16th 2016, Jo was murdered in the place she served, loved and cared for passionately - her constituency of Batley and Spen.

Her friends and family were determined for her work to live on and, as part of her legacy, created The Jo Cox Foundation - striving to bring people together, while fighting for the fairer, kinder and more tolerant world the Labour MP desperately wanted to see.

The Great Get Together
This weekend marks the return of The Great Get Together, set up by Jo’s Foundation, taking place on what would have been her 44th birthday.

It will see communities hold parties, BBQs, set up clubs and a range of events to support Jo’s work. More than 5,000 get-togethers will be taking place all over the country, joining in unison to put her words into action.

Last year's event was lauded as one of the biggest community celebrations to ever happen in Britain. Backers such as Anna Turley MP and organisations such as Heart Radio are joining in this year’s event.

Redcar is having a #GreatGetTogether picnic in celebration of Jo's belief that we have #MoreInCommon - join us at Locke Park Boating Lake on Sunday 24th June from 12pm. All are welcome - RSVP here: https://t.co/oUqFAVxkH9 pic.twitter.com/ohUvJsMw4C

— Anna Turley MP (@annaturley) June 13, 2018

Join in the #GreatGetTogether, inspired by @JoCoxFoundation, as people up and down the country come together with their communities to have fun, to unite, and to prove that we have more in common than divides us! https://t.co/llOXXf6hud pic.twitter.com/D27XcGF1JQ

— Heart (@thisisheart) June 13, 2018

The event and foundation’s work has already prompted significant change, and this week alone saw Loneliness Minister, Tracey Crouch announce a £20 million investment into tackling loneliness as part of Jo’s legacy.

Delighted to announce today, as part of Jo Cox's legacy, a £20m investment into tackling loneliness. Thanks to Gov funds & our amazing funding partners this extraordinary sum will help support & grow projects that create much needed meaningful connections https://t.co/OzYdpdLiXa

— Tracey Crouch (@tracey_crouch) June 19, 2018

Whether it’s a party, a coffee with your new neighbours or maybe a big picnic in the park, we can all celebrate and continue what Jo worked endlessly for and tackle the issues she cared about.

If you would like to get involved, you can sign up here and find out what is happening in your area.