Hundreds turn out at Halifax Piece Hall for Great Get Together event inspired by the late Jo Cox

Thousands of people across the country took part in events over the weekend to mark the fifth anniversary of the murder of Batley & Spen MP Jo Cox.
Poet Keiron Higgins reading at the Great Get Together event at the Piece Hall, HalifaxPoet Keiron Higgins reading at the Great Get Together event at the Piece Hall, Halifax
Poet Keiron Higgins reading at the Great Get Together event at the Piece Hall, Halifax

Halifax’s Piece Hall was one of the many venues to host events on Saturday and yesterday, honouring the late Labour politician’s maiden speech in Parliament in 2015, saying we have “more in common than the things that divide us”.

Free food was served, while live music and creative family activities were put on to bring people together.

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Halifax poet and self-proclaimed "Punk With a Northern Soul"Keiron Higgins also did readings at the event.

Fola Ifekoya and Amaka Akabuo, from Light Up Black & African Heritage Calderdale, serving food for the visitorsFola Ifekoya and Amaka Akabuo, from Light Up Black & African Heritage Calderdale, serving food for the visitors
Fola Ifekoya and Amaka Akabuo, from Light Up Black & African Heritage Calderdale, serving food for the visitors

The Great Get Together was founded in 2017 by the Jo Cox Foundation and has hosted events each year over the weekend following the anniversary of Mrs Cox’s murder. Virtual events were held last year due to the lockdown.

Outdoor picnics, barbeques, community bake offs, virtual street parties and events at schools were among the many types of activities planned this year.

There was also a ‘Stitch Together’ virtual event, while an online service from Batley involved people from different faiths.

Normanton and Castleford MP Yvette Cooper and former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, meanwhile, took part in the annual Run For Jo at Pontefract race course, one of several ‘Runs for Jo’ in the region.