Left to right – Cllr Tracey Huffer, Tommy Huffer, Canon David Wiseman – South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, Gurshaan Singh, Ellodie Lewis, Jessica Byron, Canon Andrew Teale – Hereford Diocese and Imam Sohayb Peerbhai and Canon – South Shropshire Interfaith Forum. Front row – Freddie Morris, Chimuka Munsanje and Juvanna Bright
Local schoolchildren at Ludlow Primary thanked for helping to mark the Holocaust and other genocides
The Council, along with South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, has thanked the children of Ludlow Primary for their help in remembering the Holocaust and other genocides, through a special assembly and cherry tree planting ceremony on Holocaust Memorial Day itself – Monday 27 January 2025. The tree is the twentieth in the cherry tree orchard of remembrance being grown across Shropshire. Details are being shared at national level with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT).
Kirstie Hurst Knight, Shropshire Council Member for children and education, said:
I was delighted to hear from officers about the welcome that the children of Ludlow Primary gave to our friends of the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, Imam Sohayb Peerbhai and Canon David Wiseman, and about all the efforts that they had put in ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day to really think about the importance of remembering the Holocaust and other genocides.
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, for whom education is a key consideration, will be heartened to hear how many children took part, and the deeper understanding that they gained from it. I know that they will cherish their cherry tree as a reminder of the day and as a reminder of the need to show kindness to others now and as they grow up.
Tracey Huffer, Shropshire Council councillor for Ludlow East, said:
I am sure that I speak on behalf of all of us who were there in saying that all the children were a credit to the school, to their families, and to themselves. The work that they all did beforehand really contributed to enriching what I hope was as memorable and moving an experience for them, whether watching or actively taking part, as it certainly was for my husband and myself and the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum. My hope now for the children is that each of them, individually, reflects upon the occasion and the importance of the cherry tree in ensuring that the Holocaust and other genocides are never forgotten.
Councillor Tracey Huffer addresses pupils of Ludlow primary school during their Holocaust Memorial Day assembly.
Imam Sohayb Peerbhai and Canon David Wiseman, for the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, said:
“South Shropshire Inter Faith was delighted to join with Shropshire Council in a wonderful Commemoration for Holocaust Day 2025, at Ludlow Primary School. This involved a thoughtful assembly with excellent contributions from the pupils, followed by the planting of their memorial cherry tree. Our thanks to all the children and their teachers for such a special event.
Shropshire Council also encouraged everyone to join in with the national moment of remembrance later that day, through lighting candles to put in their windows at 8pm that day. This included information on the website and the staff intranet, as well as having a lock screen image for all staff and elected members to view. This year marked the 80th year since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp from the Nazis.
More about HMD
Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) takes place on 27 January each year and is a time to remember the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. It marks the Holocaust and other atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis, including against the six million Jews who were murdered, and atrocities against people with disabilities, Sinti and Roma communities, people who were black or Slavic eg from Poland, and people who were gay.
