Thank You Day: celebrating the community spirit that got us through

AUTHOR: ANDREW DIXON, TOGETHER

In March, Together published the Talk/together report based on a national conversation involving over 150,000 people. The report found that people felt the country had generally pulled together, not apart, as a result of the pandemic, and that people were keen to retain the best of the new community spirit they had seen in action.

Among other things, the report called for more activities that brought people together, including country-wide moments that celebrate community. Thank You Day is a direct response to this call.

And it’s now just over a week to go until Thank You Day on Sunday 4 July. So, what is Thank You Day about and how could your council be involved?

Why Thank You Day

Thank You Day is being organised as a chance to mark what has happened over the past 15 months, to celebrate the community spirit that has got us through and say a big thank you to all those who have helped us along the way. The Day is being supported by hundreds of organisations across the UK, from the Scouts and Guides to the Rotary and the NHS, from the FA and the Church of England to the Local Government Association.

Thank You Day is being promoted by the Together campaign, which is a coalition of a wide array of different organisations, from community groups to some of the UK’s best-known organisations. The coalition’s aim is to help build a kinder, closer and more connected society in the aftermath of COVID-19. 

How your council can be involved

Councils are being encouraged to get involved by using the opportunity to say a big ‘Thank You’. Thank you to their community as a whole. Thank you to local key workers and volunteers. Thank you to their hardworking staff.

At moments like these, we know that expressions of collective thanks can help strengthen our sense of community spirit and belonging. And local councils can play a key role in enabling this.

Here are the two simple ways your council can get involved:

Firstly, say Thank You to your community. The simplest way to get involved is by saying Thank You to your town or parish, as a range of different councils is already doing. You can do this through social media, obviously, but you could also make use of community noticeboards in parks or public libraries, or even signage and advertising space where this is available. You can say thank you in whatever way works best for your place and your council. For instance, some councils are using Thank You Day as a hook for existing plans to thank their staff or those who have volunteered their time to help others over the course of the pandemic. There is a whole range of assets on the Thank You Day website which you can easily use, and you are also perfectly free to adapt these, to joint badge them or design your own.

Secondly, encourage your community to say thank you. You can encourage, through your normal communication channels, your communities to get involved in Thank You Day in the simplest way possible – by saying thank you to each other and those they most want to thank. Some councils are encouraging residents to share videos, selfies and stories of the people they most want to thank. A message of thanks by video, on Facebook or Twitter, is something any of us can simply and easily do. To help spread the word, you can use any of these draft social media posts, and you can find a whole range of graphics on the website. The hashtag is #ThankYouDay.

Please help us make this the biggest ever thank you event and making sure that everyone who deserves it gets a thank you. For more information on Thank You Day, visit the website or download the Thank You Day pack for local government.