An event to mark International Holocaust Memorial Day will be held in Swindon on Saturday.

The event, expected to last an hour will begin at noon at the Friends Meeting House, Eastcott Hill, and will feature remembrance, reflection, readings, and hope.

The event is organised by Matt Holland who said: “Anyone, whether a member of any of Swindon's many faith and community groups or as an individual with appropriate personal stories or readings, is welcome to speak or read at the gathering.”

If anyone would like to speak or read they should contact Mr Holland at 01793 771080 or matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk

The theme of Holocaust Memorial Day this year is the ‘fragility of freedom’. This includes freedom of beliefs, freedom of movement and travel, freedom of speech, and even freedom of reproduction.

Following the hour’s ceremony, light lunchtime refreshments, including snacks, sandwiches, and hot drinks, will be provided at the venue by the Friends.

Holocaust Memorial Day was first marked nationally in the UK in 2001, and is now established as an annual day of remembrance.

The date, January 27, marks the day when the Auschwitz concentration camps were liberated in 1945.

The organisers of the international day say it is also an opportunity to remember and reflect on numerous other human rights tragedies around the world, including persecution and wars, past and present, and aims to help raise awareness among people of all ages and backgrounds.