Stockport Independent Issue 186

5 FEBRUARY 2025 Visit our website: www.independentnewspapers.co.uk To advertise your business in the Independent, contact Robin Atkins on 07767 840274 Remembering the Holocaust ANEWChief Inspector has taken command of Mac- clesfield’s Local Policing Unit (LPU). Zoe Bowden joined Chesh- ire Constabulary in 2012 and has spent her time in the force policing many different areas of the force area. She started her career as a constable in the Warring- ton and Runcorn area, work- ing alongside communities and partners. Zoe, pictured, became a detective constable in 2018 before her promotion to detec- tive sergeant. She worked within a number of areas that supported some of the most vulnerable people living in the community. During this time, she spe- cialised in complex investi- gations surrounding sexual offences, developing youth engagement programmes, and supporting missing and exploited young people. Over the last few years Zoe has been promoted to inspector managing the constabulary’s resources and most recently to chief inspector heading up Cheshire’s forensic unit. Zoe said: “I am extremely proud to be chief inspector at Macclesfield and I am look- ing forward to working with a team of dedicated and com- mitted officers. “My role is critical to Zoe’s passion for community policing ensuring we understand and meet the needs and expec- tations of our communities, enhancing their confidence in the police even further. “I understand the challenges of local policing and I’m look- ing forward to working with our partners to continue to make our area a safe place for all to live, work and visit and ensure the public have total confidence in the service that we provide. “My teams will strive to support our most vulnerable communities, and also tar- get those who are involved in criminality. “I have a genuine passion for community policing and am looking forward to working together to make our commu- nity even safer.” A SERVICE of remembrance to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day was being held at Macclesfield Town Hall as The Independent went to press. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex, and the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia. Cheshire East mayor Marilyn Houston was lead- ing the service at 10.30am on Monday, January 27 with members of the public invited to attend. She was being joined by civic dignitaries represent- ing communities from across the borough. The hour-long ceremony was set to include readings of testaments from survivors of genocide, the lighting of memorial candles and a two minutes’silence. The guest speaker was Leah Burman, from the Northern Holocaust Education Group (NHEG). She was recounting the story of her father, Ziggy Landschaft, who as a teenager survived the Krakow Ghetto, forced labour camps, the ‘death march’to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp and being shot while escaping just hours before lib- eration from the Nazis by the US army inMay 1945. NHEG was founded in recognition that the first gen- eration of Holocaust survivors will not be able to continue to tell their stories for ever. Its aim is to ensure that future generations can con- tinue to experience these life stories of victims of Nazi per- secution and the Holocaust, in away that is bothmeaning- ful and relevant to the issues of today. Invitations were sent to all town and parish councils across Cheshire East, along with secondary schools in the Macclesfield area. A council spokesperson said:“We hope that Holocaust Memorial Day can be an opportunity for people to come together, learn both from and about the past and take actions to make a better future for all.”