The Great Get Together will go ahead 'On Air'

Media Update: 20 June 2020

Bankside’s Great Get Together is back:
We can’t get together but we can connect…

· Nine hour radio show: music, interviews, art, comedy and more…

· Line- up includes: Martha Kearney, Kim Leadbeater, Tom Daley, Ben Lovett and Andy Serkis…

. Sing-a-long at 6pm…

As part of the nationwide series of events this weekend, Bankside Open Spaces Trust is inviting everyone to listen in and take part in “The Great Get Together – On Air”!

Join us from 12 noon till 9pm this Sunday, 21 June for nine hours of radio, broadcast on multiple local stations featuring music, interviews, theatre and comedy. This year, we can’t get together at our usual street party but we can still connect together. We’ll be doing just that and celebrating the ‘Power of Community’.

Bankside residents, including BBC Broadcaster, Martha Kearney; Ben Lovett from Mumford and Sons; Olympic diver Tom Daley are all taking part.

Tom Daley, who joins the show commented that the “whole spirit of Jo Cox lives on through our Great Get Together and it’s a great thing to be part of in this community in Bankside.”

In an extensive interview, Ben Lovett reveals that the street parties remind him of his early experiences of Glastonbury: “the Bankside Great Get Together is the best…it’s all about the community coming together in a celebratory manner.”

Also in the line-up is BBC broadcaster, Martha Kearney, who said she is “very glad to be part of The Great Get Together which is a fantastic way to celebrate the best of everything in our community here in Bankside."

Bankside Open Spaces Trust have worked with people from across the community to stage the ever-popular event. Not being able to have a street party this year they have been influenced by approach favoured by Jo Cox - which was to focus on what you can do, rather than what you can’t do.

Joseph Bonner, Vice-Chair of Trustees explains, “We continue to be inspired by the words Jo Cox delivered in her maiden speech in parliament - that we have “more in common than that which divides us. Although I never knew Jo, her interest in, and compassion for people was an inspiration and felt a very good fit with the values of Bankside Open Spaces Trust. We are also conscious of some of the extraordinary women with a historical connection to our community in Bankside: Octavia Hill, Janet Johnson, Consuelo Vanderbilt and others. Much of our work of growing communities together follows what they did - so hosting a party in the streets which were shaped by them seemed like the right thing to do. Back in 2017 when we started talking to people who live and work in the area, they were totally taken with the idea and so the event has grown in scale and size (12,000 people attended the street part last year which lasted from midday to midnight). This year we have to do things a little differently but we want to use the marathon radio programme to give artists, community groups, and local businesses a chance to share their work.”

Meanwhile, actor Andy Serkis introduces a specially created photography sequence devised by Steve Hollingshead: “London in Common: Around the City in 80 Festivals”, pays homage to diverse communities of Londoners in celebration, commemoration and collective endeavours in support of causes.

Steve Hollingshead adds: “I hope to share the passion I have for the sheer energy and diversity of Londoners.”

Andy Serkis (Patron Southwark Playhouse. Ambassador Best Beginnings) says: “Now more than ever it is vital to remind people of Jo Cox’s unifying words, her ‘more in common’ message and how timely the Great Get Together is. That’s why I’m supporting this year’s event.

Highlights from the radio show include:

Music from: The Brothers Ignatius, Negative Response, Daniel Orcese, The Dog Roses, Rob Corcoran, Steve Somers, The Rt. Rev. Swifty Lezarre, Olivia Parker, The Pandemonium Drummers, Borough Welsh Chapel Choir, GreenMatthews, Mastrmac, Dizzy, Smoke Fairies, Nightingales, Dragon Cafe, Madera Verde and many more.

· At 6pm we will be encouraging everyone to join in a special song: to sing, dance, have fun and to share the experience on social media.

· A “Great Film Quiz” with a top prize of a VIP Private Screening with cocktails at The Cinema Museum.

· Comedy with award winning comedians.

· Theatre with short radio plays.

Notes:

Photo op at Marlborough Sports Garden, Union Street London SE1 1SZ at 6pm on Sunday. Local residents with be taking part in the sing-a-long (while maintaining social distancing).

The full line up will be available on www.bost.org.uk

Tune in to Resonance FM 104.4, K2K Radio and SOAS Radio

Sunday 21, June Midday to 9pm

Steve Hollingshead “Around the World in 80 Festivals” can be found at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR8MA5GFl3w&feature=youtu.be

https://hollingshead.london