Saturday 17th June saw my local community come together for a street party of sorts.
Our “Great Get Together Event”, in recognition of Jo Cox MP, was largely organised by Mrs Baldwin and our next door neighbour Michelle.
The community that I live in is hardly polarised (no gangland turf wars, neo Nazi or Muslim extremist agitation for example), but then again it isn’t properly functional yet either. The reason for this is simple, it’s a new build estate (still being built for that matter) and a whole load of new people have come together for the first time and nobody knows each other. A collective lack of awareness means we couldn’t claim to have a community spirit at all.
The murder of Jo Cox was shocking; hearing about the remembrance events being promoted in her name was the catalyst that got Mrs B. and I thinking we should do something. We registered on the website, downloaded the events pack, wrote the invitations and Mrs B. subsequently went around the estate delivering them.
What better way to start building our own community than having a party and inviting everyone?
Even Davidson Homes, the building firm responsible for my estate, agreed and it stumped up the funding for an ice cream man. The firm was under no pressure to get involved or support us, but it did and that was great from a corporate behaviour perspective. And the ice cream went down very well too!
Our Great Get Together saw my drive transformed into a seating area with BBQ, drinks and music. All the neighbours were invited (just about everyone came too) and in glorious sunshine, the event got into its stride at about 3pm.
…it finished at approximately 1:30am.
I can't have been the only one feeling a tad jaded this morning.
As you can see from the photos, the turnout was good and we are now a much more united bunch of postcode sharers than we were before.
A community spirit...
...we've got one now.
RIP Jo Cox MP.
Our “Great Get Together Event”, in recognition of Jo Cox MP, was largely organised by Mrs Baldwin and our next door neighbour Michelle.
The community that I live in is hardly polarised (no gangland turf wars, neo Nazi or Muslim extremist agitation for example), but then again it isn’t properly functional yet either. The reason for this is simple, it’s a new build estate (still being built for that matter) and a whole load of new people have come together for the first time and nobody knows each other. A collective lack of awareness means we couldn’t claim to have a community spirit at all.
The murder of Jo Cox was shocking; hearing about the remembrance events being promoted in her name was the catalyst that got Mrs B. and I thinking we should do something. We registered on the website, downloaded the events pack, wrote the invitations and Mrs B. subsequently went around the estate delivering them.
What better way to start building our own community than having a party and inviting everyone?
Even Davidson Homes, the building firm responsible for my estate, agreed and it stumped up the funding for an ice cream man. The firm was under no pressure to get involved or support us, but it did and that was great from a corporate behaviour perspective. And the ice cream went down very well too!
Our Great Get Together saw my drive transformed into a seating area with BBQ, drinks and music. All the neighbours were invited (just about everyone came too) and in glorious sunshine, the event got into its stride at about 3pm.
- Everyone had a name badge made up for them (that was my idea, because I am rubbish with names). Mrs B. took the piss initially, but the badges helped everyone.
- The conversation flowed from the get-go to the end, though perhaps a bit more slurred later
- The age range of the attendees varied from toddlers to retirees but there were no points where anyone ran out of things to talk about. Our get together turned out to be that good that…
…it finished at approximately 1:30am.
I can't have been the only one feeling a tad jaded this morning.
As you can see from the photos, the turnout was good and we are now a much more united bunch of postcode sharers than we were before.
A community spirit...
...we've got one now.
RIP Jo Cox MP.
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