[O]n Sunday the 18th of June the community of Braithwaite, Thornthwaite and Newlands came together for ‘The Big Lunch’; a ‘Great Get Together’ event, one of over 100,000 throughout the UK celebrating the life of Jo Cox and her belief that ‘we are far more united and have far more in common than the things that divide us’.
Over 100 residents brought lunch to share, met their neighbours, enjoyed sunshine, music, laughter and activities including a raffle, face painting, apple bobbing, bouncy castle, climbing wall, and a display of the Braithwaite archives courtesy of The Braithwaite History Society.
Organisers Mia Ambrose and Claire Grant were overwhelmed by the support of many local businesses and individuals who not only donated towards the raffle but helped organise and run the event. Allerdale Borough Council also showed their support by awarding a grant of £200 from their Festival and Events Fund. The raffle and donations received made over £200 which will be put towards the next community event.
Claire Grant said: “It was wonderful to see old and young sharing lunch and getting to know each other. We couldn’t have asked for a better day to celebrate and we hope we can organise more community events in the future.” Mia Ambrose agreed commenting that “This was our first community event and we were unsure how successful it would be, but were so pleased how our community rallied together and enjoyed meeting each other.”
Revd. Judith Ashurst, commented in ‘The Great Get Together Guest Book’ ‘lovely to get together and meet the people we live amongst’.
