COMMUNTIES from every corner of society gathered to stand together to celebrate the beliefs of former MP Jo Cox at the weekend.

People with different religions, from different backgrounds and different ages stood side-by-side across East Lancashire to celebrate Mrs Cox’s iconic phrase: ‘We have far more in common than that which divides us’.

Different faith and community leaders gathered at the Peace Gardens in Burnley to encourage everyone to talk to someone they didn’t know.

A Mad Hatter’s Tea Party themed picnic was held in Nuttall Park, Ramsbottom on Sunday.

Mrs Cox was shot and stabbed in her Batley and Spen constituency on June 16 last year.

In Burnley, Julie Cooper, the town’s MP, held back the tears as she spoke of her ‘friend’ and ‘colleague’.

She said: “12 months ago Jo arrived to do a surgery at her constituency of Batley, not a million miles away from her.

“She never got to hold that surgery because on that day, that MP, that politician, that woman, that wife, that mum, was brutally murdered by a right wing terrorist.

“We must not be stopped being shocked by that horrific act, motivated by that most destructive hatred that ended the life of a beautiful, loving woman.

“It is really important we stand together and remember we are all human and are all here for each other.

“It’s sad that it takes something so horrible to make us focus.”

People also gathered at the Blackburn Rovers Indoor Centre at Ewood Park, Romney Walk and Whinney Lane in Blackburn.

The Great Get Together initiative was set up by the Jo Cox Foundation, which formed after Mrs Cox’s death to continue her campaign for a fairer, kinder, and more tolerant world.

Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Cllr Mohammed Khan, said: “The Great Get Together is a wonderful idea and a fitting way to remember the inspirational MP, Jo Cox, who believed people have far more in common than they have things that divide them.”