Minutes:
The Chair reminded Council that Holocaust Memorial Day was the day for everyone in the UK to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution, and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.
It was commemorated annually on 27 January, which coincided with the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp.
To mark Holocaust Memorial Day the Council was holding a free event on Friday 27 January at the Gala Theatre in Durham City, where Professor Marek Szablewski would share the story of his family’s life in occupied Poland during World War II.
Durham County Hall would be lit purple on the evening and Durham Cathedral was also marking the day by hosting a display of artwork by St Leonard’s and Belmont schools to reflect the Holocaust Memorial Day theme for 2023, ‘Ordinary People’.
It was essential that people continued to reflect on these harrowing events, which demonstrated what could happen when discrimination and prejudice took hold. It was also a stark reminder of why it was so important to promote tolerance and equality, and to work together to eradicate hate crime.
The Chair informed Council that since the last Council meeting she had attended several events, including the County Council staff awards on 7 December and the Seaham Sea Cadets awards night on 15 December. She had also attended some beautiful Carol services at Shildon, Stanley and Ferryhill and watched the Mencap Nativity on 17 December.
Moving on to some recent Council successes the Chair was pleased to report that Durham was recognised for its efforts to reduce and recycle waste at the National Recycling Awards.
Durham won the Campaign of the Year for its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment recycling project which gave small electrical and battery operated items the chance to become something new.
The Councils Shared Lives Service, which supported almost 100 people across County Durham and Hartlepool had been rated as outstanding by the Care Quality Commission.
Durham County Council had once again been awarded Disability Confident Leader Level 3 status by the Department for Work and Pensions. Since the initial accreditation three years ago, Durham had established a staff disability and allies' network, which continued to grow and provided support for disabled staff as well as acting as a voice as to how improvements could be made.
Finally, the County Council and some local care homes it worked with had won two accolades at the national Reminiscence Interactive Therapy Activities (RITA) awards.
The council and homes piloting RITA were presented with the silver award in the RITA Star Award category, and Redworth House Care Home in Shildon won the bronze award for Best Use of RITA to Prevent Falls.
The RITA equipment had been trialled in 12 care homes in the county where user-friendly interactive screens and tablets were used to assist residents, particularly those with memory impairments, through listening to music, watching news reports of significant historical events, listening to war-time speeches, playing games, watching films, and karaoke.
The Chair and Council congratulated all staff involved in the achievement of the awards.