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Bootle is to play host to a major exhibition about Anne Frank in the year that the Jewish victim of the Holocaust would have celebrated her 90th birthday.

The Anne Frank Trust UK is joining forces with leading Sefton adult social care provider New Directions to mount the event early next month at the Strand Shopping Centre in the town.

The Anne Frank  – A History for Today exhibition will be open to the public from 10am until 4pm on weekdays between Thursday 1st August and Friday 9th August at 172 Vermont Way.

A special event will also take place on the final day of the exhibition featuring music, dance, drama and the unveiling of Imagine, a spectacular new sculpture inspired by Anne Frank and created by people who attend the New Directions creative workshop, New Creations.

Although she only lived to be 15, Anne Frank is one of the best-known Holocaust victims, having gained posthumous fame with the publication of The Diary of a Young Girl, which documents her life in Amsterdam in hiding from the Nazis between 1942 and 1944.

Published in 1947, the diary has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 70 languages.

The Anne Frank Trust UK is an education charity that uses Anne’s life and diary to empower young people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to challenge all forms  of prejudice and discrimination.

New Directions has a team of more than 500 staff providing a wide range of services to local residents with support needs. As part of their inclusive approach to the Anne Frank project, the two partners will work together on training a group of people who use the services of New Directions to become guides at the exhibition.

And they are also involving a group of young people from CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) in Sefton who will also work on the sculpture and on developing other aspects of the exhibition space.

Commenting on the upcoming exhibition Tim Robertson, Chief Executive of the Anne Frank Trust UK, said: “I’m thrilled that the people of Sefton have the opportunity to visit this truly important exhibition which offers a fascinating and moving insight into Anne’s life.

“Anne was murdered in the Holocaust simply because she was Jewish, but her story lives on in her diary and in the education programmes she has inspired around the world.

“I know the exhibition will make people reflect, and I hope it will make every visitor commit to opposing all forms of prejudice.”

New Directions Managing Director, Mark Fox, added: “I am delighted that we are involved in bringing this exhibition about Anne Frank’s inspiring legacy to Sefton, and that so many of the people who use our services are playing such an active role in supporting the project.

“As with our Holocaust Memorial Day activities earlier this year, Anne’s story puts the spotlight on the key issues of identity, isolation, discrimination and equality, and the vital importance of promoting diversity and understanding.”

Residents in Sefton are being asked to support the borough’s foodbanks this summer to help meet increased demands to tackle holiday hunger.

This comes as new figures released by the Trussell Trust, the UK’s largest foodbank provider, reveal a 20% increase in emergency food parcels for children in the UK last summer.

Some Sefton residents may feel the pinch during the summer months, especially if their children usually receive a free meal at school. This can lead to an increase in people turning to foodbanks for additional support.

While any donation of non-perishable food items is welcomed, Sefton’s foodbanks are currently in need of tinned fruit, tea bags, dried pasta, UHT milk, breakfast cereals, tinned tomatoes and tinned potatoes or instant mash.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “The latest figures released by the Trussell Trust show that holiday hunger is a growing concern not only in Sefton, but also at a national level.

“Foodbanks are just one of the many avenues Sefton residents are looking to for additional support as they continue to feel the effects of welfare reform.

“Throughout the school summer holidays we are calling on kind hearted residents across the whole of the borough to donate to the foodbanks in Sefton. When you are out doing your next shop please consider buying a few extra items to donate and help to support our most vulnerable residents.”

Donations can be made to one of the following donation points:

• All Sefton Leisure Centres – Bootle Leisure Centre, Meadows Leisure Centre, Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre, Netherton Activity Centre, Litherland Sports Park and Dunes Splash World Leisure Centre, Southport
• Bootle Town Hall
• Housing Standards reception on the second floor of Crown Buildings, Eastbank Street, Southport

For more information on how you can support Sefton’s Foodbank Network visit www.southport.foodbank.org.uk or www.southsefton.foodbank.org.uk