Come On, Come On, Let's Get Together

I went out to scary London last night, Shoreditch to be precise, to take part in the launch of Oxfam's Get Together.


There was a plethora of lovely well known faces, inspiring women (and me) all happy to drink very nice cocktails, and hear about those less fortunate than ourselves.



Now, we all bemoan our lack of money right now, but, if we were honest, we have our lives pretty cushy compared to similar women in developing countries. We may worry about the bills, but we never have to weigh up the pros and cons of breastfeeding in case we have a life threatening disease we could pass on. We may complain that we perhaps can't go out quite as often as usual when we have over spent in December, but we don't have to try and feed our family on what us lucky lot use for a lunch time snack.


Oxfam are hoping that, by raising awareness (rather than just doing a Bob Geldof and telling us all to give them our money) that people get more acquainted by just how hard life can be for those less fortunate than ourselves. 

The lovely Lauren Laverne, a firm supporter of Oxfam and Get Together

By linking up with the media through stars such as Lauren Laverne, Grace Dent and Miquita Oliver, bloggers and online communities such as Mumsnet (who I was in attendance on behalf of last night along with Pants With Names, EggDipDip, Hackney Doula, and Eleanor Mills), and retail companies like Whistles (whose CEO, Jane Shepherdson, was in attendance as well, and gave an empowering speech), Oxfam hopes that people who otherwise wouldn't have a great life can.

BBC3's Cherry Healey, who was absolutely delightful

So, that's where you guys come in.

The 8th of March is International Women's Day, and Oxfam want as many of us as possible to organise a Get Together of our own. You can bake cakes, you can hold a quiz. You can have a day pampering each other. Whatever you do, Oxfam have great ideas and packs you can sign up for at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/womensday. There you can find out more about Oxfam and the work they do, and, should you chose to, you can donate. 


The facts speak for themselves- every minute, a woman with no medical care dies giving birth. Raise £46 and Oxfam can train a Midwife in Ghana, who can use these skills to save lives.


Two thirds of those denied an education are girls, but £135 raised via a Get Together, perhaps an auction of your old clothes, can train 5 teachers in Mali, providing a possible education for many children for years to come. 

Pictures from last years Get Together events were played through the evening

Don't worry- I'm not going to make you all feel bad and then not do anything myself.


What I would like to do, and am in the very early (and sleep deprived) process of trying to organise is a massive online version of Oxfam's great Get Together idea.


We mums online (and Dads. And non-parents) are all far flung here, there and everywhere about the country, so getting us (and there are loads of us) all in one place at once somewhere we all agree on would be a statistical nightmare of epic proportions. That and my organisational skills don't stretch that far. I'm not Sian or Sally after all.


What I propose is that on the week that International Women's Day happens we have a massive online Twitter hashtag party. So, whether you want to be in pyjamas in Preston, sip champagne in Cambridge or just fancy joining in what I hope will be a fun evening, then you can do so from the comfort of your own sofa. What's even better is, we can all link to the Oxfam site, and really raise some much needed awareness of the way life is for those less fortunate than we are. We might even get #gettogether trending if enough of us join in.


I am currently in talks with all the major online communities I can think of, but, if you know of one then feel free to drop them a line. I hope it can be a mix of Twitter games, chats and possibly little competitions too (if we can ask as many nice brands to help that would be great too!).


The more people who want to help on this, the better.


So, people, let's Get Together.


What'd you say? 


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