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Great Get Together: Jo Cox event continues with social distancing

BBC Jo Cox standing next to Batley signBBC
The event was set up to honour the message in Jo Cox's maiden speech in the House of Commons

A weekend of community events set up to honour murdered MP Jo Cox will still go ahead despite coronavirus restrictions, it has been confirmed.

The Great Get Together began in 2017 to reinforce the Batley and Spen MP's Commons speech saying we "have far more in common than that which divides us".

This year's take place next weekend in a "slightly different way", her sister Kim Leadbeater said.

Events will include a multi-faith community service and virtual bake off.

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Mrs Cox was fatally shot and stabbed in Birstall on 16 June 2016. Thomas Mair was convicted of her murder later that year.

The events held from 19-21 June will continue the ethos of neighbours, friends, and community members gathering to celebrate what they have in common, but complying with social distancing guidelines.

The Challenge/PA Pupils at Cockshut Hill School in Birmingham form a heart-shaped human chain and spell out the words ÔJoÕ to mark the Great Get Together weekend in memory of MP Jo Cox.The Challenge/PA
In 2017, pupils at a school in Birmingham created a human chain in honour of Mrs Cox

Ms Leadbeater, an ambassador for the Jo Cox Foundation, said: "Over the past few months we have seen an amazing response from communities around the UK to the Covid-19 epidemic.

"It's a reminder of Jo's approach, one we have adopted at her foundation, that wherever possible we should focus on what we can do, rather than what we can't do.

"That's why we've decided that the Great Get Together, which has always been rooted in community, will go ahead - just in a slightly different way."

Some of the events planned around the UK include a street bingo evening in Llantwit, South Wales, and a project to send letters and cards to care homes to combat loneliness in Harleston, Norfolk.

In London, the Bankside Open Spaces Trust's annual community festival on 21 June will bring people together virtually.

The foundation is working with Facebook, which is providing a grants fund of £10,000 to support community organisations.

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