Mitzvah Day founder appointed Shoah charity’s trustee chair
Laura Marks will take over from Cathy Ashley in the key role at Holocaust Memorial Day Trust
Jack Mendel is the former Online Editor at the Jewish News.
The founder of Mitzvah Day has been appointed as the new chair of trustee of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
Laura Marks will succeed Cathy Ashley as the chair of the HMDT Board of Trustees, alongside interfaith activist Dilwar Hussain, who is vice chair.
Marks founded Mitzvah day in 2005, a day of Jewish-led social action, and started Nisa-Nashim, dedicated to bringing Jewish and Muslim women together to build stronger relations.
She said: ‘I’m delighted to be appointed as Chair of HMDT as commemorating both the Holocaust and the subsequent genocides is a duty for all of us, regardless of race, religion or background. In a dangerous world, learning the lessons from these catastrophes of the past is essential.’
Laura takes over from Ashley, who spent two terms as chair. During her time in the role, the number of commemorative events rose from 758 to 5.590, and she oversaw the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Laura Marks, paid tribute to her “unstinting work”. She said “she has steered the charity with skill and care, has professionalised it and embedded it in the national psyche. She leaves a fantastic legacy with Holocaust Memorial Day continuing to increase in scale”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
