MP meets Education Minister to take forward plans to build exhibition to the Windermere Children at the Lakes School

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has met with the Minister for Children and Families, Josh MacAlister, about plans to build an exhibition about the Windermere Children – the 300 Jewish children who rebuilt their lives in Cumbria after being rescued from concentration camps in 1945 – at the Lakes School.

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.

The site where the Windermere Children stayed is now the Lakes School. The joint bid would see a full rebuild of the school, integrated with a lasting exhibition about the story of the Windermere Children. 

Speaking after the meeting, Tim said: “I’m very grateful to the Minister for his time and support for this really significant project.

“The Lakes School is a brilliant school but it is widely acknowledged that the school needs a full rebuild because the buildings are well beyond their sell-by date.

“The exhibition to the Windermere Children would benefit young people, not just at the Lakes School, but across the whole of Cumbria, as we seek to educate future generations about the holocaust.”