Launched on November 26th, Thanksgiving day 2020, Giving Thanks is a new campaign to create digital memories that bring the people of Southampton together in a shared celebration of the city and its communities.
It is part of the on-going city-wide Mayflower 400 programme and aims to not just mark the anniversary, but to bring people together through generating an understanding of difference and encouraging an attitude of gratitude.
The public are asked to share, through social media and using #MyGivingThanks, photos, images, videos, stories, poems of the things for which they are grateful: maybe their pets, their parents, or their local park. There are online activity packs available to help communities, families and businesses get involved. The scheme will be open until Valentine’s Day 2021 and is supported by the Barker-Mill Foundation.
Councillor Satvir Kaur, the City Council’s Cabinet Member for Homes, Communities and Culture says: “We hope Southampton people from all ages and backgrounds get behind this campaign and show both the positive can-do spirit and the camaraderie and kindness of our great city.”
Tim Jobling, Barker-Mill Foundation trustee says: “The Barker-Mill Foundation is absolutely delighted to be supporting the campaign and the wider Mayflower 400 project which has bought and will continue to bring so much joy to the City.”
Throughout the campaign organisers will post up a selection of ‘thanks’ on the Mayflower 400 website and through its social media channels.
With funding from Arts Council England, artists Shared Space and Light will pull the community-generated social media content together, and in partnership with Northam Community Centre, work with communities in Northam and Kingsland, to make a new digital artwork that will be shared online in March 2021. This will tell the story of the city and its people using motion graphics and 3D animation. The project is also supported by Southampton-based literature development agency, ArtfulScribe, who will be posting poems that respond to a theme of gratitude on social media throughout the 10 weeks.
Part of the programme will be curated by Go Southampton and will be timed to give thanks during the Christmas festive period. They have commissioned City Eye to capture films of some of the city’s key workers, highlighting the vital work they are carrying out across our community during the pandemic. The films thank our key workers, and also show the importance of supporting one another.