Remembering Srebrenica

25th Anniversary Commemoration
South West
This year marks both the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the 25th anniversary of the genocide in which 8,372 men and boys in the UN-protected area of Srebrenica were killed purely for being Muslim.
It remains important that we remember these events – Srebrenica Memorial Week is 5th-12th July 2020.

In these unprecedented times, there is a pressing and increasing need to ensure that we stand up to hate, intolerance and prejudice.  Between the events which prompted the Black Lives Matters movement across many countries to the hate crimes committed in the wake of Covid-19, we are seeing more and more public expressions of hatred and injustice and more focus on what divides us.
 
In response to the Covid-19 situation we have moved our Srebrenica genocide commemorations for the South West (including Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire) online and invite you to join us marking this reminder of man’s capacity for inhumanity and our ability to learn the lessons from this.  The commemoration will remember all those killed in the Srebrenica genocide, all those killed in acts of inhumanity during the Bosnian war, the 50,000 women and girls who were genocidally raped and all who stood for and stand for stronger communities, understanding, solidarity and peace across the world.  This interactive online event will take place on Friday, 10th July at 18:30:
Register here
As the founder and Chair of Remembering Srebrenica, Dr Waqar Azmi OBE has said:
Though it has been very hard to cancel face-to-face events it has been inspiring to see the various online ideas and innovations our team have created to still commemorate fitting for those victims who were murdered for no other reason than their identity.   We continue to draw strength and inspiration from those who, during the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Europe’s worst atrocity since the second world war, were bold enough to resist an ideology of division, protect their neighbours and speak out for truth and justice.”

Remembering Srebrenica is the UK charity which works to bring the lessons from the Bosnian genocide to the UK.  We work within communities to celebrate upstanders, equip people to challenge hate and intolerance and to remember that, as our theme for this 25th anniversary states, Every Action Matters.

We also have a range of activities available to different organisations and local areas including:
  Publishing the Srebrenica Memorial Statement on your web pages and social media during Memorial Week. Sharing and doing the 11 Every Action Matters personal challenges. Hold a candle lighting and read the Srebrenica prayer Ask your local authority to adopt or reaffirm your commitment to the Srebrenica Council Motion. You can order a Srebrenica flag and fly it (we suggest at half-mast) for this year’s memorial week which runs from 5th-12th July or on Memorial Day itself which is 11th July. Ask your Library Services to have an exhibition in their open spaces when they re-open – materials are available on our website. Inviting a speaker from Remembering Srebrenica to your faith, community or social group. Hold a creative arts and crafts session around the Srebrenica flower and share the results on social media. Email southwest@srebrenica.org.uk for more ideas and suggestions. 

Gay Pride Picnic: Cheltenham May 17 2020

Click here for a list of our LGBTQ+ supporting communities/churches

Like all large gatherings planned for spring and summer 2020, the Gay Pride family picnic planned for May 17 in Pittville Park was cancelled. Which was a shame, as Cheltenham Inter Faith had been hard at work planning a “Inter Faith Space” for the picnic. Right from the start we were delighted with an enthusiastic response from many churches, faith and non-faith/beliefs-based communities within Cheltenham.

We were planning a large (double-pitch) stall with a tented zone for quiet conversations, comfy seating, a craft area and lots of information about faith-related LGBTQ+ support groups online and local. We were thinking of running a couple of meditations, and mostly just hoping to have a stream of volunteers hosting the stall with welcoming smiles and hopefully some meaningful chats.

But then it was cancelled… was that the end of it? No!  Our group continued to expand as we networked and found more supporters. Particular thanks to Sharon at Highbury Church and Stephen and Rachel from the Humanists who had been there at the Pride picnic last year, and who had great contacts. And then … the organisers decided to hold it ONLINE!

What could we do?  At very short notice we gathered those we could into a Zoom hyperspace and managed against all odds to agree a “Welcome Message” from all of us to be posted onto the Pride in Glos facebook site, plus Tom created a Video of us saying “We miss you! We love you! We’ll see you soon.”  Click here to see the video or Click here to see the post on our own Facebook site. 

Click here for the list of Supporters who so enthusiastically supported the venture.

We’ll report back when we have a date for the “actual” picnic and how we get on!

In friendship, Ginny.