Global Scouse Day: What is it All About?
Every 28th of February, two things happen. The first is that some people born in a leap year decide to celebrate their birthday. The second is that we all get the chance to celebrate Global Scouse Day. The big question you might ask yourself is what, exactly, Global Scouse Day entails.
The answer is a little bit more complex than you might imagine, if for no other reason than the word ‘Scouse’ can have a couple of different meanings. Is it exclusively a day celebrating the stew of the same name? No. Is it all about the accents of people from Liverpool or the city itself? No. Is it something of a mix of all of that?
Kind of…
The Origins of Global Scouse Day
If you want to know about where the idea behind Global Scouse Day comes from then you’ve got to rewind to the turn of the millennium. In the March of 2000, the first ever ‘International Scouse Day’ was held, with the aim being to celebrate Scouse culture as well as to raise money for the Rocking Horse Appeal held by Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
That continued over the following few years, such as in 2004 when a poll was commissioned in order to discover who took the title of the ‘UK’s Favourite Scouser‘. Somewhat remarkably, the poll of more than 2,000 people saw Wayne Rooney take the title, ahead of many more deserving people.
A Global Scouse Day to remember!
Thank you to everyone who came along to Big Life Community Hub today.
Thanks to BBC Merseyside for helping us spread our message.
⚽️🌈⚽️❤️⚽️🌈⚽️@GlobalScouseDay @NevilleSouthall @IndiaWilloughby @Everton @peterkavanaghs pic.twitter.com/Yk3JxC7ltw— Rainbow Toffees (@RainbowToffees) February 28, 2024
Perhaps it was his move from Everton to Manchester United that put him at the forefront of people’s minds. Maybe it was the the fact that he seemed like a scruffy teenager, still together with his girlfriend, who stuck by him in spite of the fact that he had admitted to soliciting prostitutes.
It was also well before any rumours about him and what we might euphemistically refer to as ‘older women’ began to surface. Regardless, the likes of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Jimmy Tarbuck all had to take a back seat whilst Scouseness was celebrated in the form of Rooney in first place and Heidi Range from the Sugababes in second.
Global Scouse Day Takes Shape
By 2008, the idea of International Scouse Day had faded away a touch. As a result, it needed to be brought back to life and Liverpudlian Graham Hughes decided that it needed a re-brand. He did that by calling it ‘Global Scouse Day’ and appealing to some of the biggest names in the city.
In the years that followed, more and more restaurants in the city answered the call by putting Scouse on the menu, whilst the likes of Liverpool and Everton as well as the city’s Lord Mayor began to support it. Suddenly it went from being a bit of a niche thing that seemed to celebrate the existence of Wayne Rooney through to a genuine event.
Back then, the notion of Global Scouse Day was centred entirely around the dish itself. The Liverpool Echo ran stories about the ways in which various people cooked their own Scouse, up to and including tales from those who no longer lived in Liverpool but decided to introduce Scouse to the likes of Germany and the United States of America.
At Maggie May’s cafe on Bold Street, there was a competition to see who could cook the best version of Scouse, which was largely in line with Graham Hughes’ original idea regarding getting together with some friends and cooking some Scouse to remember the famous old dish.
Raising Money for Charity
There have been moves over the years to use Global Scouse Day as a chance to raise money for numerous charities. The likes of the R Charity, Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and The Whitechapel Centre have all been on the receiving end of money raised through the day.
There have also been attempts to give some Scouse to homeless people in the city to ensure that they’re able to get a warm, nutritious meal into their systems. In 2018, for example, Virgin Trains provided The Whitechapel Centre with 100 bowls of Scouse that the homeless charity could dish out to those that had to use its services for one reason or another.
@liverpooluni It’s Global Scouse Day, so go and treat yourself to a bowl of Liverpool’s local dish 🥘 #foryoupage #livuni #liverpool #liverpooleats #globalscouseday #scouse ♬ cooler than me by mike posner sped up – Lexie (Daisy’s Version) 🌼
It isn’t just charities that have benefitted from Global Scouse Day, though. There have been numerous events put on around the city on the 28th of February in order to introduce people to a dish that they might not have had before.
In 2016 a hospital attempted to cook the largest dish of Scouse ever recorded, with 500 portions of the dish made courtesy of 50 kilograms of Maris Piper potatoes, 35 kilograms of steak, 20 kilograms of chopped onions and 20 kilograms of carrots. Some bars have done cocktail competitions to find the best cocktail to accompany a bowl of Scouse, whilst Liverpool writers have written poems about it.
What About Just Being Scouse?
Whilst the idea of Global Scouse Day was born in order to protect the dish Scouse that so many people love, there is also the reality that Scousers in general are deserving of praise and appreciation. The truth about Liverpool as a city and the people that come from it is that it has been put down by many ever since the 1980s.
Far too many people from further afield have been all too willing to believe and accept the nonsense spouted about Scousers ever since the Margaret Thatcher government wanted to put the city into a state of ‘managed decline’. Even now you can go somewhere and have someone say they’ll ‘mind their wallet’ because of a Scouse accent.
Having a ball celebrating #Eurovision2023 in Liverpool. Couldn’t be prouder to be scouse, loving & living every minute. Snapshots from week 1 include UKRLAND at @unitytheatre, HOME @OpenEyeGallery exhibition launch, Late at @tateliverpool, The Blue and Yellow Submarine Parade… pic.twitter.com/UGEl88DsJE
— Rachael Welsh (@RachaelKWelsh) May 7, 2023
As a result, many would want to use Global Scouse Day to celebrate Scousers and the brilliance of the city. From The Beatles through to the Liver Building via the two football clubs and the Grand National, Liverpool is a city that is 100% worth celebrating.
Global Scouse Day is really all about the stew that gives the city’s residents their nickname, but that doesn’t mean that other aspects of Scousers shouldn’t also be given a chance to be celebrated on February 28th. Each time it comes around you can make your own version of Scouse whilst singing songs by The Beatles or Gerry & the Pacemakers or telling jokes by Ken Dodd.
