Students at Burton Borough School take part in Holocaust memorial in Telford

Pupils at Burton Borough School were among speakers at Telford & Wrekin Council's special civic ceremony at AFC Telford United to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27).

The event's theme was ‘For a Better Future’ and featured a short pre-recorded testimony from Manfred Goldberg - a Holocaust survivor who had last week visited the school in Newport to speak to students.

Students Charlie Steele and Tayla New spoke at the event. Charlie spoke of the impact of meeting Mr Goldberg while Tayla read a commemorative poem. 

Burton Borough principal Caroline Bedford said: "We were honoured to represent the Burton Borough community at such an important event, and incredibly proud of Charlie and Tayla for the maturity and respect they demonstrated as guest speakers.

"Their words show the significant impact meeting Mr Goldberg had on our school community and how much our students have learned from this invaluable experience.

"We want to say thank you to Telford & Wrekin Council for exposing our young people to these opportunities."

Speeches and presentations at the civic event were followed by candle lighting as an act of remembrance.

Councillor Raj Mehta, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for inclusion, engagement, equalities and civic pride, said: "Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity for the world to come together and reflect on the atrocities and millions of people murdered in the Holocaust and in subsequent genocides such as in Bosnia and elsewhere around the world.

"It’s a moment to think about what we can all do to make sure the horrors of the past are not repeated, and show that we stand together against intolerance and hatred, challenge prejudices and speak out against persecution."