By Josh Salisbury April 8, 2021, 2:10 pm Edit
Debra s friend Karen posted a photo of the yellow candles online - without knowing one of them was in memory of Debra s aunt (left)
A writer has told of her shock after her friend was given a Yom HaShoah yellow candle with her aunt’s name on it –a one in six million chance.
Debra Barnes, who has written a novel inspired by her family history called
The Young Survivors, was stunned to discover that her friend Karen had received a yellow candle in memory of her late aunt, Annette Szklarz.
Debra’s mother, Paulette, miraculously survived the Holocaust because she had measles when the Gestapo tried to take her, and was later hidden by nuns in a convent.
Flimby’s Julie McFarland was to be the Times & Star person of the week, but it seems that good deeds grow. So instead, this week’s person of the year is the whole village of Flimby and nearby businesses including some in Maryport. Julie is the owner of Jemcare, a domiciliary care service. She moved her business to Flimby last year and has been a Flimby resident herself for over 20 years. “My business has not been affected by Covid, she said. We have all worked right through. So, when my daughters, Kayleigh and Leona, told me about friends who were finding life really difficult because of the pandemic, I decided to give £1,000 just to bring a bit of cheer to people at this time of year.”