The Day of the Soup is part of the Great Winter Get Together in memory of MP Jo Cox
CHILDREN at a Splott primary school made soup for 200 for a get together at St Saviour’s Church, known as the Day of the Soup.
Pupils in reception and year one at Moorland Primary made parsnip, and minestrone soup as part of the Great Winter Get Together organised by the Jo Cox Foundation. Tomato, and Carrot and Coriander soups were also available for a total of 40 litres of soup.
Year one teacher, Kat Trelawny, said the children started with tasting soups, buying ingredients and then making the soup the day before the event. They even created their own invitations to send to parents.
At the event there was also a performance from the school’s choir.
Caitlyn, a pupil in year one, said that her favourite part of the process was peeling the parsnips.
Father Dean Atkins, priest for the South Cardiff Ministry Area, said: “The idea behind any Great Winter Get Together, whatever form it takes, is just to bring people out together so that you can have those places of connection.
“One of the things that we are passionate about is working with people of all faiths and none. We’ve all got a responsibility in our communities to create a strong community, a cohesive community, a loving community.”
Father Atkins said one woman came along to meet people because she was recently retired and looking for things to do in the area.
A strong community, a cohesive community, a loving community
Father Dean Atkins, priest for the the South Cardiff Ministry Area
The Great Winter Get Together aims at tackling loneliness, something Jo Cox experienced at university. Jo Cox was the MP for Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire when she was murdered in June 2016.
Great Get Together events in Cardiff are supported by the Cardiff Partnership, which is part of the More in Common Network. Cardiff was the first city to have such a partnership bringing together larger charities and organisations.
The Cardiff partnership was launched in June 2022 with a Great Get Together event at Grange Pavilion. Twelve organisations took part, including the council and the Friends and Neighbours charity.
Meena Jeewa, communities manager for the More in Common Network and former constituent of Jo Cox, said: “It’s that More in Common message that kind of pulls people together because it’s a case of everybody understands it and everybody believes in it.”
Since that first Great Get Together the Cardiff partnership has grown to around 80 organisations, including a merger with the South Wales Police community cohesion team in October 2023.
Ms Jeewa said that this summer’s Great Get Together will be “extra special” because Jo Cox would have celebrated her 50th birthday this year.
