With only one week to go to the start of the national Great Winter Get Together events we wanted to remind everyone about the power of positive connections. In our family of schools, in Batley, we always work together to support each other and do all that we can to help others. 

Loneliness can affect anyone, at any point in our lives, for lots of different reasons. You never know what someone is going through, which is why we should; be kind, always. By taking part in The Great Winter Get Together we can help to tackle loneliness in our community, in whatever way we can, no matter how big or small. In helping someone else, we can also find that we help ourselves - doing something positive for someone else is often more rewarding than we realise. When we feel lonely, we seek out places for connection and schools are a big part of all our lives, and a big part of our community. 

The Winter Great Get Together is all about connection, therefore the events begin next week (on what is sometimes called 'Blue Monday') and our schools will join in the events and activities which encourage everyone to make meaningful connections with new people, as well as promoting places of connection that already exist, so that people experiencing loneliness are made aware of these places. With the cost of living crisis making things difficult for people to afford their usual social activities, this year the Great Winter Get Together is more important than ever. We hope you will be able to take part in some of the events in our schools, and our community. 

On Saturday 21 January everyone is welcome to pop into Batley Community Centre between 12pm-2pm for coffee, cake and a chat. Then, The Great Winter Write Together takes place in Batley Library 2-4pm; which is a free letter and poetry writing workshop.