The 2020 Great Winter Get Together was the Jo Cox Foundation's most ambitious campaign thus far. Spanning from mid December to January 18th (aka Blue Monday), each week was themed with practical ways to face loneliness together: one connection at a time.
We encouraged the public to say thank you, reach out to others, show they care, understand more about loneliness and help out.
In numbers
This year's Great Winter Get Together saw 3.5 million people across the UK take part, yielding the largest reach the winter campaign has seen to date.
1 in 5 people who heard about the campaign take part - an increase from 1 in 8 over the June 2020 campaign. The goal was to raise awareness about loneliness, and 82% of survey participants felt that the campaign achieved exactly that. The majority also said it made them feel less lonely.
In the media
- 28 million meaningful social media engagements
- 75.2 million OTS measured across coverage
- Over 300 features across the press, including print newspapers, online media, broadcast and radio channels
- Coverage was both national and regional, including BBC News, ITV News, Channel 5, The Sun, Daily Mirror, Yorkshire Post, BBC Radio London and the Times Radio
In the community
- Over 15,000 people attended our Great Winter Get Together events
- 6,300 downloaded our Great Winter Get Together toolkits and resources
- Over 150 organisations promoted our campaign to their networks
Our partners
- This year's Great Winter Get Together involved 18 new and existing partnerships, including...
- Co-producing our Understanding Loneliness toolkit with the Marmalade Trust
- Co-producing our Helping Out toolkit with the Royal Voluntary Service
- Co-hosting a day-long Festival of Connection with SocialEyes
- Co-hosting the first-ever cross-party parliamentary staff network Get Together with the Labour Women's Parliamentary Staff Network
- Co-hosting a youth loneliness event with Leonard Cheshire
In your words
- "It's been great, cheered my day up no end. Thanks to everyone who made it all possible."
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"We used the Blue Monday events as a starting point for our village coffee mornings on Zoom."
- "Thanks so much... The world can indeed be a wonderful place - even online!"
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"The pandemic has magnified the need for neighbours and friends to look out for one another and provide support. The get together helped us connect and we are far more connected now than ever before."
- "My daughter and I baked and put cakes on neighbour's doorsteps, including our new neighbours. They said they have never felt so welcomed into a new street!"
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"It gives me pleasure to see people smiling and greeting each other more than previously. My kind neighbour has offered to drive me 10 miles to work (a school) and back when my car was written off. He possibly would have done that before the Great Winter Get Together, but I think there's an increased sense of togetherness now."
- "It helped me feel connected and like I'd made a difference."
