Council to host Holocaust Memorial Civic Ceremony
Telford & Wrekin Council will host the borough’s Holocaust Memorial Civic Ceremony on Friday – with this year’s theme being The Power Of Words.
Friday’s ceremony will be opened by borough mayor Councillor Stephen Reynolds and will be attended among others by the county’s Lord Lieutenant Sir Algernon Heber-Percy and High Sheriff Charles Lillis.
The ceremony to mark Holocaust Memorial Day takes place at the council’s town centre headquarters at Addenbrooke House on the ground floor.
It starts at 10am and features a civic ceremony with an overview of the theme by council director Jonathan Rowe, readings by two pupils from Madeley Academy, a community reading by Dr Eve Clevenger – who lost relatives in the Holocaust - and a candle lighting and minute’s silence.
There will also be closing remarks by Telford & Wrekin Council cabinet member Councillor Rae Evans, who will talk about the Postcard Project organised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
Throughout the day, an exhibition will be available for people to view in adjacent rooms to where the ceremony takes place.
Councillor Evans said: “Each year since Holocaust Memorial Day was created in the year 2000, we have paused to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.
“This year the theme is the Power of Words. We want to use this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day to explore how language was used in the past, in the present day and importantly what impact it has.
“We are very honoured to be hosting a wide range of guests including the Lord Lieutenant, the High Sheriff, Dr Clevenger, representatives of West Mercia Police, 11 Signal Brigade and local school children for our Holocaust Memorial Civic Ceremony.
“It will be a day to remember those we lost and also to highlight that our power to change starts with our own words – wherever we find intolerance, prejudice and injustice, it is our words that will have the power.”
