Individual Youth Organisers
Here you will find information for individuals organising their own Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) activity or event. If you are organising an activity at your University, College, Youth Centre or for friends and family, we have lots of tips and resources to support you. Below are some steps which will help you to put on a successful Holocaust Memorial Day activity.
Get to know our theme and resources
Each year, Holocaust Memorial Day Trust chooses a different theme, to help local HMD activity organisers create new and engaging activities to explore with their participants. The themes chosen are relevant to the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and genocides that have happened since. Use the theme to help you shape your activity or event.
Click below to explore the wide range of free resources on our website. These include life stories, activity templates, creative activity ideas and more to help plan your event. When searching for resources you may find it helpful to filter to ‘youth resources’ to find resources suitable for your activity.
Here are some recommended resources suitable for HMD activities with young people:
- Use our film screening resources for films about the Holocaust and genocides that have happened since to host a film screening followed by a Q&A
- Set up a book club to read and discuss books on the Holocaust and more recent genocides using this resource which provides information and suggested discussion points
- Use our guide to plan an online ceremony or panel discussion
- Explore case studies of people affected by the Holocaust and genocides who took action to make a change, and plan your own social action, using our Take Action resource for guidance.
Know your audience
Think about who your audience are and what you want them to learn from the event; try to keep events engaging and creative. Include activities which encourage lots of group or audience participation, such as discussions or creative activities.
Including one of our life stories, which are available in many formats including video, can be a powerful way of engaging your audience.
Listening to a survivor of the Holocaust or genocide share their testimony is a hugely powerful experience, and participants at HMD events are likely to have a profound reaction to hearing it. If you would like to try to arrange for a survivor speaker to attend you’re event, there is information about how to do this here.
Promote your event
If you want your activity to have a high turn-out think about how best to promote it. You may want to write to your local newspaper or MP to let them know about your HMD activity, as well as promoting it on social media using our hashtags. Could you invite students, colleagues, councillors or MPs, or members of your local community?
There are posters, booklets and other resources to help you promote your activity for free here and downloadable graphics and advice on using social media during HMD here.
Let us know!
We want to hear about every activity, this helps us to know how many young people are participating in HMD each year. Make sure you tell us about your activity by adding it to our activity map or emailing [email protected].
Tag us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook to tell us about your activity!
Other ways to get involved
Each year we hold a project specifically for young people to get involved with. For HMD 2022, we are holding a youth photography competition called One Day, with the opportunity to win a camera and have your photo displayed in an exclusive exhibition in London. Find out how you can get involved and subscribe to our newsletter to be kept up to date.
