THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE WILL VISIT CUMBRIA
Tuesday 21st September 2021
The Duchess of Cambridge will travel to Cumbria on Tuesday 21st September where she will carry out visits highlighting the beneficial, lifelong impact that nature and the outdoors can have on young people.
The Duchess, who is Honorary Air Commandant of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets, will begin the day by joining a group of Air Cadets taking part in a number of outdoor activities, including mountain biking.
Her Royal Highness’ visit will mark the re-opening of the RAF Air Cadets’ Windermere Adventure Training Centre following a £2m refit. The centre will enable hundreds of cadets from across the UK to be able to visit the Lake District each year and take part in a wide variety of activities, allowing them to build their confidence and leadership skills and achieve their Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
The Duchess of Cambridge passionately believes that spending time outdoors plays a pivotal role in children and young people’s future health and happiness, building foundations that last over a lifetime by encouraging active exploration and the opportunity to form and strengthen positive relationships.
Next, Her Royal Highness will embark on a boat trip with two of the ‘Windermere Children’, a group of 300 child Holocaust survivors who came to stay in the Lake District in 1945 for a period of recuperation following the atrocities they experienced in concentration camps and the ghettos of Nazi-occupied Europe.
The Duchess wanted to be able to meet some of the survivors in person and hear their stories, having previously learnt about the history of the Windermere Children. During the boat trip she will hear about the ways in which their time in the lakes and the innovative support that they received at the Calgarth Estate, including outdoor recreation, sport and art therapy, allowed them to be able to begin to heal from the trauma of their childhood experiences.
Her Royal Highness will then disembark at the Jetty Museum, where she will meet relatives of survivors who will speak about how their loved ones’ time in Cumbria helped them to go on to build successful lives in the UK. The Duchess will also learn about the work of the Lake District Holocaust Project to document and educate the public about the experiences of the Windermere Children.
