Take action for a better future
Has marking Holocaust Memorial Day made you want to take action to prevent identity-based persecution and discrimination? Here you will find advice on what you can do now to help prevent persecution here in the UK and around the world. There are actions that take five minutes, one hour, and longer, depending on how much time you have.
We know that people who mark Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) do more in their local communities as a result. Now you have learned about the Holocaust and genocides that followed, what can you do to help create a better future?
Below are our top tips on actions you can take right now. They are broken down into actions you can take in five minutes, an hour, or longer. Jump to the tips you want by using the links below.
Tips for if you have five minutes
Tips for if you have more time
Examples of actions others have taken
If you have five minutes…
- Follow us on social media and share our life stories and posts to help raise awareness.
Twitter: HMD_UK
Facebook: HMD.UK
Instagram: holocaustmemorialdaytrust
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hmd-uk - Educate yourself about what hate crime is so that you can recognise and report it when you witness someone being targeted.
Learn about hate crime - Report identity-based bigotry and hatred you witness on social media, whether it has taken place within or outside the UK – most social media platforms have the option to report posts and comments that breach their community rules and policies.
- Subscribe to our newsletter to learn how you can get more involved in Holocaust Memorial Day. You will be kept up to date on projects, events and competitions throughout the year.
Subscribe
If you have one hour…
- Educate yourself about situations around the world at risk of genocide by reading articles and books and watching documentaries. Spread the word, in-person and online, to help raise awareness of what is happening. The Aegis Trust and Genocide Watch websites are a good place to start.
Yazidi people escape after coming under attack by ISIL (Photo by Sebastian Meyer/Corbis via Getty Images)
- Write to your MP to tell them about the importance of marking HMD and to encourage them to find out about HMD activities that happened in their constituency on our interactive map.
You can download a template letter/email below and look up your MP’s contact details here.
Download MP letter template - In order to better understand those who are different to us, it is important that everyone has the opportunity to share their experiences. Try supporting those who may not usually have the opportunity to be heard to tell their stories. For example, start a neighbourhood Whatsapp group to bring local people together; give your place at a conference or event to someone who would otherwise not have that platform; support everyone in your work meetings and social groups to be heard.
- Download and familiarise yourself with a diversity and inclusion calendar and consider how you could use this in your workplace to help others feel included and understood.
Diversity and inclusion calendar
If you have more time…
- Volunteer at a local charity supporting refugees or Holocaust and genocide survivors. You can search for in-person and online volunteering opportunities on the Do-it website.
Find local volunteering opportunities - Research situations in the UK and the wider world where people are at risk of persecution and consider what you can do to help. For example, you could raise money, promote a cause, do a collection of clothes or toiletries for people in need, sign petitions, write letters, go on or organise a march.
- Start making plans to organise an HMD activity in your community next year. Think about how you could create opportunities for people from different backgrounds to come together for meaningful interactions throughout the year. What could you do in your community, workplace or school to get people who are different to talk, share, and get to know each other?
Advice on organising an HMD activity - Join a local campaigning group promoting human rights and fighting discrimination and persecution.
What actions have others taken?
Students at Eden Girls’ School
After marking HMD, students at Eden Girls’ School, Waltham Forest, created a banner for the front of their school to welcome refugees in their area, and brought donations of clothes, books and toys for recently arrived refugee families. These were distributed by Hackney Migrant Centre, Care4Calais East London and Waging Peace.
Artwork by Leslie Nicholl
Artist Leslie Nicholl created a collection of 18 paintings which were exhibited for HMD. Afterwards he displayed them as part of an exhibition at the Engine room Gallery in Belfast, with the Red Cross supporting the donation of all sale proceeds towards supporting Ukrainian refugees. People from across Northern Ireland contributed just over £15,000 thanks to the determination and energy of Mr Cliff Brooks MBE, the director of the Engine Room Gallery Belfast, and all the gallery artists.
Leslie dedicated his artworks to the memory of Boris Romanchenko, who survived the Holocaust only to be killed by Russian artillery fire in his home in Kharkiv.
Top image: students at Eden Girls’ School, Waltham Forest, making a banner to welcome refugees after marking HMD
