MP encourages Chancellor to support memorial to the Windermere Boys

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt  to lend his support to plans for a memorial to the Windermere Boys – the 300 Jewish Children who came to Troutbeck Bridge in 1945 after the holocaust.

The cultural centre, proposed by the charity The Lake District Holocaust Project, would mark the special role Cumbria played in helping some of those who survived the holocaust to rebuild their lives, and would help combat rising antisemitism.

Speaking during Treasury Oral Questions in the House of Commons yesterday, Tim said: “The Chancellor will be aware of the award-winning film ‘The Windermere Children’, which talks about the legacy of those Jewish children who survived the death camps in central Europe and made a new life for themselves on the banks of Lake Windermere at Troutbeck Bridge.

“For the last several years, there has been an ongoing exhibition on their legacy at Windermere library, and now we look to build a lasting memorial alongside a rebuilt Lakes School at Troutbeck Bridge.

“Will the Chancellor be interested in meeting the families of the Windermere children, and those behind the new build and the provision of a new lasting memorial to their legacy, at Windermere at some point in the foreseeable future?”

Jeremy Hunt replied: “That is a very tempting offer, and I will see whether my diary permits me to visit the honourable Gentleman in his constituency.

“I have not seen the film, but I have seen a film on a holocaust theme called ‘The Zone of Interest’, which is a remarkable British-led film that I thoroughly recommend to him.”