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Borough Unites to Mark Holocaust Memorial Day
Wigan and Leigh will unite in remembrance
of the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides on Thursday 24th
January.
Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, in partnership with Wigan Council, has
organised two Holocaust Memorial ceremonies of commemoration taking
place in both Wigan and Leigh. This year’s moving tributes will take
place at Wigan Town Hall at 10.30am and Leigh Town Hall at 1.30pm. All
are welcome to attend for free.
Those attending this year’s ceremonies will be asked to ‘remember,
reflect and react’ at services in which The Mayor of Wigan Co. John
O’Brien will read the ‘Statement of Commitment’. A personal statement
will be read at each service by Chair of the Epiphany Trust Bill Hampson
and there will be readings by poet Ian Grey.
The Wigan service will include performances from students of St John
Fisher, Deanery, and Pembec High Schools, while Bedford, Westleigh and
Golborne High Schools will take part at Leigh. Pupils from Orrell
Holgate Primary School will display their own art work based on the
famous painting ‘Guernica’ by Picasso that depicts the horrors of the
Spanish Civil War.
Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated on 27th January each year. It
marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp
Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945. The aim of the day is to commemorate, to
educate and to prompt action in the UK.
Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust Head of Heritage Services Carole
Tyldesley said: “We would be delighted for as many people as possible to
come along. It is important that the borough pays its respects to all
those who lost their lives or have suffered as a result of the Holocaust
and other more recent acts of genocide such as Darfur, Rwanda and
Bosnia.”
Carole continued: “Education is a vital part of the day’s events. I am
delighted that the younger members of our community have
enthusiastically got involved and have an improved understanding of the
way in which our world has been shaped by these terrible atrocities.”
The first Holocaust Memorial ceremony will commence at 10:30 am at the
Town Hall Atrium, Wigan. Leigh’s ceremony is scheduled for 1:30pm at the
Town Hall in the Civic Square.
For further information on the Holocaust Memorial Day events please
contact Phil Butler on 01942 827594.
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