Shropshire Council to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2017 in cherry tree planting ceremonies with schools
Shropshire Council is organising memorial cherry tree planting ceremonies with primary and secondary schools in Shropshire, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday 27 January 2017.
This will again involve interfaith forums, the lighting of candles, and use of a special Shropshire prayer. On the day, the focus will be with primary schools, with the planting of a tree at Bishop Hooper CofE Primary School in the south of the county, at Ashford Carbonell, and measuring of trees planted in 2015 and 2016 with Mereside CofE Primary School and Woodside Academy in the centre and north of the county respectively.
How can life go on?
The national theme for 2017 is ”How can life go on?”, and local children will be thinking in particular about Jewish refugee children who arrived in England under the Kindertransport scheme at the start of World War II, and Syrian refugee families settling in Shropshire in the present day.
This year, cherry trees are also being planted with five secondary schools across Shropshire, as the council continues efforts to grow a cherry tree orchard of remembrance across Shropshire. The secondary schools are linking their cherry tree planting with other activities, including Holocaust survivor visits and webcasts, and special assemblies.
Gwilym Butler, Shropshire Council’s deputy Cabinet member, responsible for equalities, said:
“I could not be more pleased to support the cherry tree planting ceremonies to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January, and the way that this brings schoolchildren together with people from our faith communities to commemorate the Holocaust and other genocides.
“I am delighted that this year, as well as Bishop Hooper, Mereside and Woodside schoolchildren taking part, we also have five trees to be planted with students from secondary schools in Shropshire, giving us eight very special trees to demonstrate that life really can go on.
“My hope would be that as we start to grow more trees across Shropshire now and in the years to come, the children themselves as they grow up will continue to remember the messages of the Holocaust and to care for nature and for each other.”
Mark Michaels of the Jewish faith community and Imam Sohayb Peerbhai of the Muslim faith community will be joining in the short interfaith services with the children, along with Shropshire Councillors and council officers.
The trees are British cherry trees, chosen in recognition of the importance of fruit trees to the Jewish faith and the symbolism of fruit trees in the Muslim and Christian faiths.
The council’s intention is that cherry trees will continue to be planted in the county next year, again from the Incredible Edible project for fruit trees that will contribute to a sustainable natural environment.
The council is committed to helping young people to understand the messages of the Holocaust in ways that are age appropriate and useful, and therefore also circulates resources to schools across the county, including the learning resource developed by Mereside Primary School, the very first primary school to take part.
Further information
Further source material on the Holocaust and on the 2017 theme “How can life go on?” is available from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust website.
The trees have been sourced from “Tom the Apple Man”, whose nursery is in Weston Rhyn, north of Oswestry, and who is one of the approved suppliers through the Shropshire Incredible Edible project.
