Shropshire Council – Annual cherry tree planting by Ludlow Primary – HMD 2025
Activity information
Activity type: Private activity
Organisation name: Shropshire Council
Website: http://www.shropshire.gov.uk
Address:
Ludlow Primary School
Clee View Site
Ludlow
Shropshire
SY8 1HX
United Kingdom
Schoolchildren at Ludlow Primary School will plant a memorial cherry tree on the morning of Holocaust Memorial Day, Monday 27th January. This will involve South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, the school itself, and the local Shropshire Council councillors. Children will think about the theme for the year, “for a better future”, say prayers and light a candle, and the school will make a promise to look after their tree.
Ahead of this, South Shropshire Interfaith Forum are holding an event to which all are welcome, on Saturday 25th January at 5pm. This will involve presentations, discussion, and remembrance. The location is Church Stretton United Reformed Church, 75 High Street, Church Stretton, Shropshire SY6 6BY
Here in Shropshire, our aim is to help primary school children to learn about the Holocaust and other genocides in a way that will be age-appropriate and memorable, and that will help them to grow in their understanding of and respect for world faiths as well. The children of Ludlow Primary will be helping us to grow our cherry tree orchard of remembrance across Shropshire, through planting what will be our twentieth tree after a decade of this activity.
This year, we are thinking in particular about the theme “For a better future” and how this links with helping children and young people in Shropshire to grow up with a deeper understanding of the need for acceptance of each other as we are, and the need to work together across all our communities to ensure that there is a better future for all.
More about the trees
As well as sourcing the trees through kind support from our arboriculturist team here, John Blessington from the team is helping with practicalities including guidance on looking after the trees as they grow alongside the children of the schools involved.
They are Black Oliver flowering cherries, a variety native to the West Midlands, chosen to link in with the importance of fruiting trees in Judaism, Islam and Christianity, and to illustrate our wish to show welcome for different faiths within our local area.
We also have a special Remembering Srebrenica tree planted in July 2021 at Shirehall in Shrewsbury, to coincide with Remembering Srebrenica Day on 11th July. This commemorates the humanitarian role of the armed forces, and brings the total number to 20 trees including the one to be planted in 2025 in Ludlow in the south. Last year's was in Ellesmere in the north.
There is more about the role of the local armed forces, in blogs produced by Shropshire Archives Team, at https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/
We return each July to the Remembering Srebrenica tree, and will do so again this year. Mereside School, with whom we planted our first tree in 2015, take part in ceremonies here, as do the Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum and South Shropshire Interfaith Forum.
Organiser Name
n/a n/a
Other organisation(s) involved
south shropshire interfaith forum; local school