Communities come together with More in Common group

Boston More in Common group wants to see Boston Borough Council employ people from migrant communities to take on this role to help ‘bridge communications’ with local authorities.

Founder member Julian Thompson said ‘these would be from each community working within the council’ to engage with all residents to set up a more pro-active line of communication. He recognised these would need to be paid roles, but anticipated help could come from the Government’s migration fund.

The group started with just a few people attending a radio talk show, and since officially forming in October has grown to a committee of 24, a number of sub-committees and has more than 1,100 followers on Facebook.

Members have been in talks with police, the borough council, the MP and organisations such as the Scouts to promote its aims.

About 40 students from Boston College are also looking to set up a youth committee as part of the project.

Julian, who along with three others took up the challenge of forming the group after appearing on the Radio Four Two Rooms show about the European Referendum vote, said the response had ‘gone absolutely crazy’.

“The positivity from most people is really good. They are just brimming with it,” he added.

“The aim is to get in touch and be friends with as many groups as possible – Eastern European or indigenous – to work with them to make this work.”

Members have already taken part in projects including an exchange with Lambeth More in Common and a multi-lingual Christmas jingle which was aired on Endeavour FM over the festive period.

The group has planned a further exchange with Lambeth, which covers Brixton and has supported the Boston group.

Brixton recorded the highest number of remain votes in the EU Referendum with 78.6 per cent. Boston has the highest leave vote with 75.6 per cent.

Mr Thompson, who voted in favour of Brexit, said the aim was to bring all communities together.

He said concerns around issues such as street drinking and infrastructure were shared across communities.