There are times when it is particularly joyful to get together, so we were delighted to bring local communities to Portobello Green on Sunday for our annual Great Get Together.
Inspired by the late Jo Cox, who had the conviction that “we are far more united than that which divides us,” The Great Get Together is a national movement. With the event landing barely a week after the Grenfell anniversary, for our North Kensington communities it was a chance to take stock, remember those we lost five years ago, and celebrate the strength and enduring unity of our collective response.
The sun shone and just under 100 people joined us in the heart of Ladbroke Grove, connecting through a range of activities. Whether it was expressing creativity with 24 Hearts; boxing with Mo1 Youths; getting theatrical with SPID Theatre, exploring our local environment with The Wellhome project or engaging in the Conversation Café with Nova’s School of Humanity, there was something for everybody, and plenty of time to reconnect with old friends and form new bonds with people from a diverse range of backgrounds.
The idea of the School of Humanity is to connect people from different backgrounds who you might not usually strike up a conversation with. It unites people from different backgrounds and cultures to showcase our common humanity. Whereas these conversations would usually take place in a 1–2–1 format, we felt that for this occasion, speaking in small groups would enable us to draw strength from one another.
We reflected on the Grenfell anniversary, how we had all found it, how to maintain resilience and joy in the face of frustration, what our recent discoveries and challenges had been and the importance of good intention.
“Such a brilliant concept, bringing diverse people from the W10 & W11 community together to share their life stories through conversation. I met so many interesting people” (Suzanne of Attitude Is Everything)
The power of collaboration in working with other organisations in the local area. A huge thank you to Westway Trust for funding, Babajani for providing the yummy refreshments, SPID, Mo and The Great Get Together for inspiring the movement to strengthen our community connections, showcasing that we do indeed have #MoreInCommon.
“Amazing day today delivering boxing for Nova Charity GET TOGETHER FOR GRENFELL” (Mo of Mo1 Youths)
We are always looking for people to support our work — whether you’re able to donate or would like to volunteer, please get in touch and help us create a better tomorrow. You can find out more on how to get involved here.
