Shropshire Council says thank you to schoolchildren for helping to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2016

Children at Mereside Primary School in Shrewsbury and at Woodside Academy in Oswestry were commended by Shropshire Councillors for taking part in the recent Holocaust Memorial Day cherry tree ceremonies organised by the council on 27 January 2016.

Mark Michaels of the Jewish faith community and Imam Sohayb Peerbhai of the Muslim faith community joined in short interfaith services with the children, along with other members of the South Shropshire and Shrewsbury Interfaith Forums. They were supported by teachers from the schools and Shropshire Council officers.

The children at Mereside measured the first Holocaust Memorial Tree to see how much it had grown under their care, and found it was now 2 metres 20 cm high. They told everyone about how much it had meant to them to look after the tree as a school, and how they would continue to do so. A candle was also lit to mark the occasion, and the children heard about the importance of fruit trees to many faiths.

A second Holocaust Memorial Tree was planted with Woodside Academy pupils in a further interfaith service of commemoration at their school in Oswestry. Vince Hunt was able to join the children, as their local Shropshire Councillor and as a school governor. He shared some words from the Diary of Anne Frank, and his perspective on how the planting of such a tree linked in with the overall efforts of the council to protect and enhance the natural environment.

Cecilia Motley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for equalities, said:

“The children at Mereside and Woodside schools are clearly an absolute credit to their schools and to their families. It is particularly pleasing that two of the Mereside children who helped plant the first cherry tree in 2015 helped to measure it this year.

“I do hope that the children of Woodside will be able to do something similar, and have every confidence that they will care for their tree as much as the Mereside children continue to care for the first one.

“The national theme of “Don’t Stand By” is one that makes a great deal of sense, and will I hope really help children and young people to understand how important it is that the Holocaust and other genocides do not happen again.”

Vince Hunt, local Shropshire Councillor for Oswestry West and school governor at Woodside Academy, said:

“I found it very moving to be able to help the pupils of Woodside Academy to plant this second Shropshire Holocaust Memorial Cherry Tree, and it was a pleasure and a privilege to take part in the ceremony with people of different faiths.

“I will be taking a keen interest in how the tree grows, and taking every opportunity myself to ensure that the school plays its part in helping the pupils and their families to look after the natural environment, to look after each other, and to understand why the Holocaust must never be forgotten.”

Thank you letters to the four children representing each school are being sent to them. Shropshire Council would also like to thank members of the inter faith forums for their help and support, and teachers at both schools for their own commitment to working with the children to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.

The council’s intention is that a third cherry tree will be planted in the south of the county next year, contributing further to a sustainable natural environment as well as providing a fitting memorial.

Further information

Further source material on the Holocaust and on the 2016 theme of “Don’t Stand By” 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

Both of the trees are Black Oliver fruit cherry trees, native to the West Midlands, 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.

Incredible Edible Shropshire (IES) coordinates community growing activity around the county. The aim of the initiative is to encourage community action, business involvement and educational awareness around food growing. Projects are appraised on benefits to, and impact on, the wider community, the local environment (including any existing wildlife interest), and the sustainability of the project.