Great Get Together events honour Jo Cox

The husband of murdered MP Jo Cox said his wife would be "incredibly humbled" by the events taking place in her name.

Brendan Cox said the 120,000 events taking place showed the country was "crying out" for sense of togetherness.

The Great Get Together is based on the message in Mrs Cox's maiden speech in Parliament that "we have more in common than that which divides us".

Mr Cox said "the thing that really drove Jo was bringing communities together".

"She wanted to bring people together of different types and backgrounds and she would be incredibly humbled by the scale of the response," he said.

"I think we know of about 120,000 events so far across the country. And I think what that shows is just the sense that the country's crying out for these moments of togetherness."

The events come as 78-year-old Bernard Kenny, who tried to stop Mrs Cox's killer, was awarded the George Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

There were also awards for two PCs, who arrested the killer Thomas Mair, and Mrs Cox's senior caseworker Sandra Major.

Mrs Cox's family said people's responses to this week's Grenfell Tower fire in London and recent terror attacks showed how people could come together.

Mrs Cox's mother Jean Leadbeater said: "Seeing communities coming together - seeing west London - that's an amazing sight, all colours, creeds, everybody pulling together.

"I think we're getting through, maybe it will take a while but the message will get through. We need to be united. Hate doesn't do anything, it's hope that counts.

"And hopefully we're doing Jo proud by doing the things that she would have been doing."

The events, organised by the Jo Cox Foundation, began on Friday, the first anniversary of the mother-of-two's death, but most will be held on Saturday and Sunday.

Mrs Cox was fatally shot and stabbed in Birstall in her Yorkshire constituency of Batley and Spen on 16 June.

On Friday, her parents and sister attended a ceremony at Upper Batley High School, where the conference centre was renamed in honour of their daughter, and visited Birstall Market Place, close to the scene of the murder.

Kim Leadbeater, Jo's sister, said: "We decided very early on that we would not remember how Jo died, we would focus on how Jo lived."

She said the response to the Great Get Together showed people had an appetite for something positive after the "really horrendous" things that had happened in the past 12 months.

"What you see when those horrible things happen is that people do come together and we see the best of community spirit," she said.

"And with The Great Get Together, what we've got is a reason to come together that isn't a bad reason.

"It's actually a really, really good reason we're encouraging people to come together."