Marking Holocaust Memorial Day in Minehead

The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2019 was 'Torn from Home'. This fitted well with Amnesty International's global campaign 'I Welcome Refugees'. To mark the day, the Minehead AI Local Group hosted a drop in session on 24 January when people were invited to come in to read about the genocides that continue to take place in the world, to reflect and write a card, to light a candle, and to find out more about Amnesty campaigns and also the work of the West Somerset Refugee Support Group. This event took place over lunchtime and people were able to look at the displays and read about individual cases, while enjoying coffee and homemade cakes. Forty cards were written to survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides, and were returned to the HMD Trust. In addition, we sent 10 postcards to the Minister for Immigration about the UK's responsibility to keep refugee families together.

From 21 January to 2 February, there has been a special exhibition to mark HMD at Minehead Library on Bancks Street, Minehead. The exhibition included a display of HMD Trust materials, information about Amnesty International and a linked selection of Somerset Libraries' books.