Stronger Communities

I experienced the feeling of inclusion and that I wasn’t alone. Many people from around the world hate themselves and their race, but being encouraged to celebrate your culture is very validating

Year 10 pupil who attended Riya’s Cultural Celebration Great Get Together

When Riya became a City Year UK volunteer mentor at a school in the Black Country, she realised there was something missing. Despite the hard work of school staff in all areas, there were multi-faith festivals and celebrations which were not being acknowledged, despite the cultural diversity in the school. This made Riya reflect on her own school experiences and she realised she had encountered the same thing when she was at school too.

“Change starts with us and starts from within. If we educate ourselves, we can educate others” Riya, City Year UK school service leader.

Riya planned, and ran two major diversity projects – one of which was a Great Get Together. It empowered young people to celebrate their heritage and culture by allowing them to ‘#RepTheirRoots’. She organised food sharing and tasting, cultural games and competitions, a dance exhibition and encouraged students to share their cultural identity with others. Staff and students joined together to wear cultural dress and the result was phenomenal.

I have learnt that we are all special, even though we are from other countries!

Year 7 pupil

Riya laid the foundations for a beautiful project which involves the whole school community and thanks to her, it has expanded across other schools where City Year UK volunteers are based. After hearing of the success of Riya’s Great Get Together, four other schools took part in a cultural celebration day to celebrate the Great Get Together. Whole schools shared food, there was bhangra dancing led by students and teachers for both students and staff, dhol drum sessions, class decoration contests (with each tutor group exploring and growing their understanding of a different culture), and mehndi hand painting led by the students for students. 

I got to see teachers who looked like and dressed like me and I loved how the academy came together to celebrate how diverse our school is.

Year 9 pupil

To add to Riya’s list of achievements, as well as leaving this Great Get Together legacy, she was runner up in the Future Makers Award in 2022 and awarded ‘highly commended for inclusivity aimed to promote and enhance DEI in every part of the workplace’.

What is City Year UK?

City Year UK works across 18 schools in 3 main regions across England: London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. Its main purpose is to tackle education inequality, enhancing the life chances of young people often furthest from opportunity and from a range of multicultural, underrepresented or diverse backgrounds.

The organisation works with talented young people who give a year of service, volunteering full time as mentors to young people in inner city secondary schools. The volunteers want to make a real difference and look for ways to do this.

As part of its work, City Year recognises that for young people to succeed – there are found key areas where they must experience success and achieve validation. There are: Active Engagement, Assertiveness, Belonging and Reflection. Communities and young people need to feel a sense of belonging, that their voices are heard and that they are seen and valued by those around them. 

Through active engagement with its EDI (Education, Diversity and Inclusion) programme and engagement with opportunities like the Great Get Together and the Great Winter Get Together, City Year UK seeks to show that we have more in common and are stronger as a community when we embrace and welcome diversity, accepting people for who they are and allowing greater authenticity.

From 12-15 January 2024, Great Winter Get Together events around the UK will connect communities and show that winter doesn’t have to be lonely.

The Frodsham Bee Friends has long been a place where people from across the community can meet and make social connections. The organisation runs regular coffee mornings at the Cheshire town’s Parish Hall to help the community come together.

It was in this spirit that the Frodsham Bee Friends ran their 2023 Great Winter Get Together; the Friends invited people who join them for their regular coffee morning to stay on and have a free ‘soup lunch’. They firmly believe there is something special about sharing food together and the connection it provides. They planned a simple event; free soup and bread for everyone, along with cake for dessert!

The Bee Friends know it can be intimidating for someone to walk into the parish hall on their own, not knowing anyone, so they have a policy of meeting and greeting everyone who comes to one of their events. These greeters then walk the attendee to a table where they’re introduced to others and are sure to be welcomed. 

One of those who came to the Great Winter Get Together Soup Lunch for the first time was Annie, a woman whose partner had died just ten weeks earlier. With no friends or family locally, she was feeling very alone. Annie had been to the local library, and it was there she found out about the Soup Lunch and decided to give it a go.

Annie was welcomed to the lunch and was quickly swept up by the conversation on her table. It emerged, as she watched her hosts inexpertly serve the soup (it was their first time doing so!) that she had formerly worked in catering and was keen to put her skills to good use.

After the soup was finished and the event had calmed down a little, the Bee Friends invited Annie into the kitchen. She says it felt like coming home and immediately volunteered to help out. The Bee Friends had no one on their team with catering experience so they keenly accepted her offer. They needed Annie and, it seems, she needed them.

The Soup Lunch was such a success that the Bee Friends have decided to extend it as an initiative, running a lunch each month alongside their other activities. Annie is a key part of this – even before becoming a formal member of the team, they ordered her an apron to make sure she felt as welcome as possible. Annie now attends other Bee Friends events as well, for a chat and companionship and sits with the people she met at her first Great Winter Get Together Soup Lunch last year. 

From 12-15 January 2024, Great Winter Get Together events around the UK will connect communities and show that winter doesn’t have to be lonely.

The whole point of Love not Hate is to spread the love and that’s what Jo Cox is all about. We started with a hate crime incident and that’s the same as The Jo Cox Foundation – that’s why I suggested we link the two.

Liz, a volunteer with the Manju Shahul-Hameed Foundation for Mental Health

Love not Hate was founded in 2016, in the aftermath of the polarisation caused by the Brexit referendum and a rise in hate crime in Croydon, with the aim of bringing the community together around ‘Love, rather than Hate’. It was particularly aimed at supporting immigrants from the EU and elsewhere, making it clear that Croydon is their home and that they are welcome. 

Love not Hate also worked as a fundraiser for charity, initially raising money for the Mayor’s charity before moving to raise money for families of the victims of the Croydon tram derailment.

The initial event was such a success and so well received that the organisers, the Manju Shahul-Hameed Foundation for Mental Health, decided to repeat it each year, making it a central part of Croydon’s community landscape. Each year they have supported different projects; whether that be fundraising for the local NHS or for suicide prevention training locally.

This year, it was decided to make Love not Hate part of the Great Get Together thanks to Liz, one of the Manju Shahul-Hameed Foundation for Mental Health’s volunteers. Liz, who is a strong supporter of The Jo Cox Foundation’s work, felt it fitted well with their theme. “The whole point of Love not Hate,” says Liz, “is to spread the love and that’s what Jo Cox is all about. We started with a hate crime incident and that’s the same as The Jo Cox Foundation, that’s why I suggested we link the two.”

The Foundation decided to run a fundraising picnic and tried to make it as inclusive as possible. They approached John Ruskin College, a local school they’d been working with on other projects, to host the event. The aim was to encourage as many people as possible to come as well as to raise funds for charity. They charged visitors £2 to attend, and 46 local businesses and organisations paid £10 for a stall.

The Foundation has a large range of contacts across Croydon and it was able to reach out to these, ensuring an event which reflected Croydon’s energy and diversity. Among the activities and entertainment at the event were dance workshops ranging from Indian and Chinese dancing to salsa and zumba, singing, piano recitals, henna, face painting and crafts. As a result of the Foundation’s contacts and goodwill, much of this was laid on for free – “You just have to ask,” says Sheela, another of the Foundation’s volunteers, “people do so much out of goodwill.”

The charity was also keen to involve young people as much as possible, including getting them to run the entertainment and workshops for attendees. A 19-year-old and a 9-year-old compered the event excellently, while children ran the raffle with donations from local businesses and volunteers proving to be excellent at selling tickets in a non-pushy way. One 13-year-old, for example, put on a Bollywood dancing workshop, while the youngest person involved was just 5 years old and formed part of a Chinese dancing group.

To advertise the event, the Foundation announced it on social media and asked local partners and organisations to spread the word too. The College also helped promote it to students and stall holders were asked to share the event with their customers. Given that the picnic took place in mid June, there was a lot of competition from other things happening at the same time, so the Foundation had to put in a lot of work promoting it. 

These efforts paid off on the day with hundreds of people turning up to support the picnic. There was a small downpour but it didn’t spoil the mood, which was celebratory throughout. The event raised over £2,000 in total – a huge amount given the relatively low entry fee.

The Manju Shahul-Hameed Foundation for Mental Health is a voluntary organisation which relies exclusively on volunteers who put a huge amount of time and effort into running the event. “You can’t do this without family support’” says Manju, the charity’s founder, “and charity is like a family. We don’t have any paid staff, we’re all volunteers and want to keep that. We never thought it would reach so far or get so big. We wanted to build a different kind of community involving everyone. Normally the business community wouldn’t get involved with something like this, but this was different.”

The charity’s chair, Toni Letts OBE, said “Love not Hate was introduced to Croydon to address the hate crime incidents after Britain’s vote to leave the EU. It’s heartening for the charity to organise this year’s Love not Hate. The event brought together businesses, young people and the community to raise funds for The Jo Cox Foundation with the presence of Jo’s inspirational sister Kim Leadbeater MP, her parents and family. Jo Cox is an inspiration to many and promoting love and unity is a powerful way to combat hate and build a more inclusive society.”

Perhaps the best summary of the event came from Foundation volunteer, Liz; “We put Love, not Hate, into action.”

The six schools which make up the Batley Multi Academy Trust (MAT) sit at the centre of diverse, multicultural communities in Kirklees, West Yorkshire. Traditionally, whilst these schools are united, there were divisions in the wider communities across the geographical area they serve. In order to address this, the schools have been proactively developing a range of community activities which bring people from different backgrounds together.

Many of these activities come under the banner of the Great Get Together, the annual campaign inspired by Jo Cox’s message that we have ‘more in common than that which divides us’. Jo was the local MP for Batley and the MAT has been working hard to build on her legacy by increasing the number of community projects it takes part in each year. Some of these events are organised by other community groups such as the annual ‘Run for Jo’, while others are run by the schools themselves.

Here’s an outline of some of the activities the schools have run through the Great Get Together, showing how the campaign can be used as an activation point to bring together the wider community and build a positive school culture:

Batley Bake Off

Every year, Upper Batley High School hosts the Batley Bake Off, inviting anyone who lives in the local area to bake a ‘birthday cake’ for Jo Cox which celebrates her ‘more in common’ message. This is a fantastic, simple way for the community to come together around a shared endeavour – and one that unites different cultures; food!

Intergenerational Get Together

Healey Schools have developed their Great Get Together events to be intergenerational and to encourage young people to ask questions of the elders in their community about what life used to be like in Batley. It also encourages young people to voice their own opinions about what life could be like in the future. Young people outline their exciting ideas for their town moving forwards and hear ideas about the past and present from the older generation. It’s a superb way to tackle loneliness for older people within the community, and for those new to the area.

Step into the Future

Each year, the Multi-Academy Trust hosts an annual transition event for Year 6 and Year 7 pupils called ‘Step into the Future’. Approximately 1000 young people from 21 different primary and secondary schools come together to take part in a parade through the streets of Batley following a Samba band. They then take part in a range of team building and engaging activities to learn more about each other, their respective cultures and backgrounds.

The World Reimagined

Eight Upper Batley High School students from Years 7-11 were selected to take part in an art project called The World Reimagined. The project attempted to transform the students’ understanding of the trans-atlantic slave trade and its impact on us all; exploring shared history and ideas around racial justice.

After this, they were asked to decorate a fibreglass globe sculpture to carry a message of social justice and community. They added written quotes, sayings and visual representations of their ideas. It is now displayed at Upper Batley High School to celebrate that we have far more in common than that which divides us. The sculpture is on display in front of the school’s main entrance to continue to share the young people’s message of hope for the future, for a ‘World Reimagined’ and how we can all be the change we wish to see in the world.

Outreach work continues throughout the year, with each school hosting regular ‘Stronger Together’ groups which unite parents, carers and staff to work on all aspects of education and school life. Other projects are focused around the summer and winter Great Get Togethers. These campaigns offer focused periods in which the schools can run specific, themed activities such as street parties and community events.

All of this work has built an extensive community network around the schools and helped them to develop into central community hubs. It has also contributed to developing a strong, shared culture across all the schools in the MAT, built around the ‘more in common’ message with values like openness, honesty, integrity and respect. This culture is recognised more widely, both by external assessment and the communities they’re based in, helping the schools to unify their students and reach the high standards they expect of themselves.

If you would like to find out more about how we can help you with your own school Great Get Together, visit our school resources page.

Jo Cox herself was passionate about supporting refugees and her message that we have ‘more in common’ is a powerful way to bridge divides among different groups in communities.

Bea Forrester of Reset Communities for Refugees

In collaboration with the Jo Cox Foundation, Reset Communities for Refugees hosted a picnic in Folkestone, Kent on Saturday 17 June. This picnic was based on the CommuniTeas events that Reset ran earlier this year, which involved having tea parties around the country to promote conversations about welcoming refugees to communities.

“We wanted to participate in the Great Get Together to kick start our Refugee Week activities. It felt like a fantastic collaboration to put on a picnic in Folkestone – a Great Get Together to start Refugee Week to promote conversations of refugee welcome! Jo Cox herself was passionate about supporting refugees and her message that we have ‘more in common’ is a powerful way to bridge divides among different groups in communities” says Bea Forrester from Reset Communities for Refugees.

Bea continues; “ We invited a range of people from the local community, some of whom had refugee status, and people interested in creating welcoming spaces. When we arrived to set up, it started to rain so we were worried no one would turn up! But as it turned to 1pm and people started arriving, the sun managed to appear and it became a beautifully sunny day.”

More than 50 people, from a wide range of organisations and local community groups attended the event. People brought food and drinks, there were all sorts on offer from fantastic salads to homemade baklava and cakes!

“We were so pleased that the people of Folkestone came out to celebrate the message of welcome, as it has been a central place in the conversation of displacement,” says Bea. “Folkestone has a vibrant and supportive community and we had a wonderful group of people come to chat, eat and kick start a brilliant Refugee Week”.

The event shone a light on the ways in which people can get involved with refugee welcome. There were conversations about Community Sponsorship, a programme that gets a community together to find a house, raise money and discover local connections to be matched with a family identified by the UNHCR (the United Nations Refugee Agency) who will then be resettled into that community. Homes for Ukraine was another subject spoken about, which allows people with spare rooms in their homes to welcome Ukrainians for a minimum of 6 months. Both of these schemes need more volunteers and communities to get involved, as there are still many people who are in desperate need of safety.

The event was supported by a range of organisations including; Eden Project Communities, Folkestone Fringe, Folkestone Mosque, Shepway Green Party, Folkestone and Hythe Labour Party, Folkestone and Hythe Liberal Democrats, Napier Friends and Origins Untold.

Bea said the event was a great success, “We were so pleased with the conversations and turnout of this picnic, and cannot wait to do more in the future! It was great to be part of the Great Get Together celebrations nationwide to bring communities together and celebrate what unites us all.”

I had lived on the street for over a decade and didn’t really know all my neighbours. You didn’t meet people from the other end of the street, as you just walk out of the road so never went down there.

Jools, who organised the 2023 Riviera Gardens Great Get Together

The Great Get Together brings together communities across the UK, whether they are inspired by faith, a common interest, or are simply neighbours. One neighbourhood which comes together each year is Riviera Gardens, a small cul-de-sac in north Leeds. The neighbours first gathered through the Great Get Together when it began in 2017, inspired by a call to action shared on a local Facebook group. Since then, every June, the road has united to celebrate the Great Get Together on the weekend of Jo Cox’s birthday.

“When the first event took place,” says Jools, who was lead organiser of this year’s event, “I had lived on the road for over a decade but didn’t really know all my neighbours. You didn’t meet people from the other end of the street, as you just walk out of the road so never went down there.”

The first event, back in 2017, was simple; organised by a couple of neighbours, they applied to the council to close their road and posted letters through doors so everyone knew what was going to happen – something which is particularly important especially to make contact with older people who might not use social media. They then put out tables, chairs and refreshments to share on the street outside. It was a huge success, allowing people to meet and connect, so much so they decided to do it again that Christmas.

The Riviera Gardens Great Get Togethers have continued ever since, bringing the community together around the spirit of Jo Cox’s ‘more in common’ message. The aim is to keep in contact with neighbours and welcome new people to the community, ensuring that everyone stays in touch and feels included.

Since the first gathering, Jools volunteered to lead the organisation of the event. As normal, it was kept as straightforward as possible. She enlisted children living in the road to design an invitation which she could copy and print, which they then delivered to everyone. It let them know that to take part, you just needed to bring something to drink and eat and come on by – the main message is just to turn up.

Part of the reason they continue to hold a Great Get Together each year is to welcome new arrivals to the street. This year, a couple were about to move in, but hadn’t yet done so and couldn’t make the event. To include them, one of the neighbours took photos and short video clips of the Great Get Together, allowing them to feel part of the event and to ‘meet’ their new neighbours.

The connections created by the Great Get Together have benefits which go beyond the day itself. The relationships generated have helped build a true community; the street feels safer and people have been able to share knowledge and skills, whether that be through recommending tradespeople, to coming together to support local wildlife. It’s a holistic approach; as people now know each other, they’re far more confident letting their children play out or dealing with common problems.

The connections made have created a virtuous circle; the more people connect, the more they work together and the stronger the community feels. For example, thanks to connections made at the Great Get Together, Facebook and a WhatsApp group, the street has applied for a ‘Hey Neighbour’ fund to buy a gazebo and bench for the green which can act as a focal point for the neighbourhood. This has helped people of all ages come together to sit, relax and connect at the centre of the street in a way that wasn’t previously possible. Football goals have been erected on the green as well, with communal footballs being stored and shared so children can play out together.

In winter 2021, the neighbours took part in the Chapel Allerton living Advent calendar, with the street taking on a number and creating a special display to mark their ‘day’ of Advent. This was followed by a ‘switch-on’ party on the green. When issues occurred with anti-social behaviour and graffiti, the street was able to unite to find a solution.

The sense of community and positive changes on the street all came from an initial spark; people uniting at a Great Get Together.