Get involved: The Great Get Together

James Austin, Great Get Together Campaign Manager at the Jo Cox Foundation, shows how people up and down the country can take part this weekend and celebrate what we have in common. 

More in Common

“We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.”

When Jo Cox said this during her maiden speech in the House of Commons she didn’t know how iconic it would become. It was a simple statement of values, made by a woman who had spent her entire life campaigning for and living them.

Just over a year after she made that statement, Jo was murdered due to her beliefs while on her way to a constituency surgery. As a response, Jo’s family and friends came together to run the first ever Great Get Together – to celebrate her life, her values and the way she’d changed the world for the better.

The campaign has been running ever since, an annual celebration of what we have in common and a rejection of division. To celebrate Jo’s life rather than how she died, it takes place on the weekend closest to Jo’s birthday, 22 June, so this year Great Get Together is this weekend (23 – 25 June).

Across the country, thousands of people will be coming together at hundreds of events to celebrate what they have in common. Jo understood the importance and power of connection in all its forms and, as such, we don’t put limits on what you have to do for a Great Get Together; provided it brings people together in a positive way in can be a Get Together.

As such we have a wide range of events across the UK; walks with refugees in Folkestone, community picnics in Birkenhead, cinema screenings in Greenock, cricket in Cardiff and get togethers in Goole.

Seven years on from Jo’s death it seems her values, story and message are more important than ever. We believe that it is vital to have a national weekend where we do come together to celebrate our common humanity.

Post your support for the campaign on social media over the weekend using the hashtags #MoreInCommon and #GreatGetTogether.

We’d love to have your support.