Holocaust Memorial Day commemorated in Shropshire
Shropshire Council will be hosting an event for Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday 27 January 2012 in the Council Chamber, Shirehall. The theme of this year’s event is ‘Speak up, speak out’, asking you to consider what you see and hear around you, and to use your voices to speak up against hatred and discrimination.
The primary aims of this event is to remember those who were persecuted and murdered and commemorate the lives lost, think about our own actions and how we help others to speak up and speak out, and to ensure that Shropshire continues to address incidents of hate crime by raising awareness of the multi-agency protocol to tackle hate crime in Shropshire
Councillor Gwilym Butler, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for equalities, said:
“Shropshire Council will fulfil its role as a community leader by commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day, demonstrating our commitment to eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation, promoting good relations between different people and groups and tackling prejudice by promoting respect and tolerance.
In times of national austerity it is easy to forget the importance of remembrance and the equalities agenda, and Shropshire Council will not be forgetting or failing in its responsibilities.
This year’s event will allow us to pause to remember the past and think about our actions in the future. We are pleased to be supporting this event and looking forward to a wonderful evening of music, drama and readings. I would like to thank Councillor Martin Bennett who will be opening the event. I wish everybody an enjoyable evening of reflection and purpose.”
The event will start at 5.15pm with a candlelit procession will leave from Shrewsbury College walking to Shirehall for the main event at 6:00pm. The main event will include a Klezmer Band, Malenka Choir, drama and mime, readings and refreshments. In addition to this there will be a number of displays on the first floor of Shirehall during the day from organisations such as Amnesty, United Nations, gypsy and traveller team, hate crime initiative, Bridges Educational Trust, British Red Cross, and Crimestopper providing information on their work and why it is important to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
Holocaust Memorial Day has been commemorated in the UK since 2001, and in 2005 the United Nations declared 27 January as an international day for remembrance and contemporary action.
A full report on equalities will be going to Shropshire Council’s Cabinet meeting on 8 February 2012.
For more information on the event contact Kal Parkash on 01743 252056, and for background information about why we commemorate the day please visit shropshire.gov.uk/HMD.
