Eleven schools, 25 teachers, 60 children and 60 balloons, united together on Thursday 16th June, to celebrate the ideas of Jo Cox MP on the anniversary of her death.
The 16/17 June was feted as the “Great Get Together” to celebrate the life of Jo Cox MP.
Her husband Brendan Cox and his team invited people to get together with their neighbours to share food and celebrate all that we hold in common. It could be a street party or a shared barbecue, a picnic or a bake off. What matters is that we have fun and bring communities closer together. (www.greatgettogether.org)
Jo said in her first speech to Parliament “We are far more united and have more in common than that which divides us”. The relevance of this ideal is even more important in the light of the tragedies in Manchester and on London Bridge. Brendan Cox believes that: “Hate doesn’t have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous.” and that “communities should stand up for all that is good in society.”
B&C Educational Ltd commemorated the life of Joe Cox MP with 11 primary schools across the West Midlands. They came together in earnest; they donned their T-shirts, ate their picnics and joined in numerous activities but most importantly had opportunities to meet people from different schools across the West Midlands. At first, the schools sat in their groups, but soon as the games started so the little groups merged into one and then new groups developed as they met one another, shared tasks and enjoyed the excitement of finding out about each other.
Under the sh
adow of the Grand Mosque in Central Birmingham children from the leafy suburbs, inner cities, and rural fringes came together as a demonstration of Jo Cox’s dictum “..we have more in common than which divides us”.
“There was nothing Jo liked better than getting into the schools,” said Mrs Leadbeater (Jo Cox’s mum). “She knew that this is where it all started, the grassroots. Start with the children and work up.”
Here are some wonderful quotes from children who attended the event, showing just how much they enjoyed the experience.
The children interacting with other as they find out about each other’s favourite things.
“It doesn’t matter what you look like, who you are or your past, we have more in common than we have apart.”
“It (the picnic) was a great experience to see all those different children and do activities with them and to get to know them better.”
“It (the picnic) was really good for thinking how other children feel and great to meet different people.”
“It was nice to see what other people from different schools were like. It was a good chance to have fun with lots of other children.”
“I loved going to meet other schools and learning about what they like and what they are interested in.”
“It was the best day of my life!”
“I loved learning out of the classroom and going to talk to other schools, I loved singing at the end”
The event was sponsored by B&C Educational, Nettl and Ace Embroidery (Halesowen).