Unite joins Yeovil Together Festival

Members from the Somerset & North Devon Unite Community Branch attended a packed community festival in Yeovil over the weekend – and were bowled over by the level of interest in trade unions from people.

The Yeovil Together Festival happened on Sunday 14 July in the town’s Westlands Entertainment Venue, and was organised by Love Yeovil and the Somerset Diverse Communities team at CCS (Community Council for Somerset).

The event was free and drew in hundreds of families with its diverse mix of live music, interactive dance, culturally diverse food and creative workshops.

The main hall at Westlands was packed full of stalls from community organisations, including the Unite crew.

The event organisers said, “Yeovil Together Festival 2024 aims to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for all attendees, celebrating the diversity that makes Yeovil a vibrant and welcoming community.

The event will provide an opportunity to learn about different cultures, build connections, and appreciate the unique contributions of individuals and groups.”

The event was the perfect opportunity for the Unite branch to share the union’s message of solidarity and equality to local people, and raise the profile of a number of its current campaigns. It was also a great chance for the branch to find out more about other organisations and communities across Yeovil.

Andy Mitchell, Chair of Unite’s Somerset and North Devon Branch, said, “After a couple of members dropped out it wasn’t lost on us that 5 middle-aged and retired white men were running the stall at an event celebrating diversity.”

“We’ve done this event now a couple of times and it is good to show people that Unite isn’t just about pay and conditions, we care deeply about equality and inclusion, and we do so much more than people realise. One example of this is our financial and practical support for the Portland Global Friendship Group who have done so much to help the Biddy Stockholm asylum seekers.”

“As soon as we arrived people came to the table curious to learn who we were, what we do and to see the colourful merch we were giving away. A lot of people were interested in our Universal Credit campaign and others were pleased about our support for the Yeovil Stroke Unit. Others were keen to learn about our equalities campaigning.”

Fellow Unite member Ken Keable also helped out on the day and said, “There must have been several hundred people there, including many families and a great variety of national and ethnic minorities, with dancing, food and costumes. It was a welcome response to the racism of Reform UK.

“We should plan to have a bigger presence next year.”

Whilst David Osborne added that as well as spreading the word of Unite Community, it was a good opportunity to network, saying, “As Secretary of the Trades Council, I had an interesting conversation with two members of Dorset PSC, and another with someone working at a ‘special school’ in the local area. I also spoke to a local musician about their experiences with UCU and the Musicians Union.

“We also built on existing links with the people trying to develop Yeovil Does Pride.”

Andy said that there was a lot of interest from women at the festival, with many taking away membership forms. The only problem the branch had was that they ran out of some resources and the branch is making sure it will bring more information about the campaigns each of the equalities committees are running next year.

Andy explained the background to the festival and why they were so pleased to be involved, “Yeovil Together is modelled on Bridgwater Together, an event which was started through a Unite South West initiative in 2015. At the time in Bridgwater there was a rise in hate crime, so we started the event to celebrate the diversity of our local communities and the positive impact they are having on the region. 

“Yeovil has taken that initiative and improved on it, including children from local primary schools in a multicultural art day. So it isn’t just about celebration, there’s education at the heart of this too, and since 2015 there have been similar events run in Chard, Shepton Mallet, Frome and Taunton.

“I’m proud that Unite started this.”

By Keith Hatch

Photo by Vivian Willis