TRAFFORD Council is inviting residents to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day by decorating one of the thousand yellow paper butterflies which are being released into the borough this week.

Holocaust Memorial Day is held annually on 27 January, and is a time for reflecting on specific events in the past and thinking about how communities and individuals stand up to discrimination, racism and hatred.

This year’s theme for Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘The Power of Words'.

The inspiration for butterflies came from Jewish Czechoslovakian poet Pavel Friedman’s thought provoking poem, ‘The Butterfly’, written whilst he was detained in Theresienstadt concentration camp.

The poem powerfully captures a ‘dazzling yellow’ butterfly - the poem can be found on the Trafford Council website where there is also an audio recording by actor Samuel Barnett.

Cllr Laura Evans, Executive Member for Communities and Partnerships, said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an important focal point in the year and Trafford is proud to play a part in honouring it. We hope as many people as possible take the opportunity to get involved and decorate a butterfly, so we can create a poignant display. It is vital that we continue to honour the memory of those who lost their lives through the Holocaust and other genocides, and learn from the stories of those who survived.”

Local residents are able to pick up a butterfly from any Trafford Library, create their own or use the template available at trafford.gov.uk/HMD. The council ask people to add a message or decorate the butterfly and drop it in to any Trafford Library or Sale Waterside reception.

The deadline is January 23. The finished butterflies will be used to create a special display at Waterside Arts Centre for view between January 26 and February 4.