On the 29th August 2022 a few representatives from Suttles, including Chairman Chris Suttle and Director Matt Suttle along with their families attended the unveiling and dedication of the Trevor Chadwick Memorial Statue.
It was a very moving service, with many representatives from the town council including the Mayor, and other important attendees and speakers, including;
The Lord Lieutenant of Dorset – Angus Campbell Esq
Trustee Of Association of Jewish Refugees – Danny Kalman
The statue was unveiled by Trevor Chadwick’s grandson, with the dedication of the statue performed by Reverend Tony Higgins and Rabbi Maurice Michaels.
So, who was Trevor Chadwick?
Trevor Mckenzie Chadwick was born in Godalming, Surrey, on 22nd April 1907. For the first few years of his life he lived at his father’s school, the Forres Prepatory School for boys in Ruislip. As a young adult, following colonial service in Nigeria he came to Swanage after his parents had moved there and set up the Forres School in Northbrook Road in 1928.
Trevor was the resident Latin teacher, remembered at the school for his kindness, arranging bus trips for townspeople to attend sporting events, and for organising parties for local disadvantaged children. He was well liked by the town’s fishermen and became a volunteer member of the Swanage Lifeboat Crew.
In early 1939 Trevor Chadwick became one of a handful of mainly British volunteers seeking to organise the rescue of children in Prague most threatened by the impending German occupation. The majority were Jewish but others were sons or daughters of Czech and Slovak anti-Nazis. The groups work was made possible by an 1938 Act of Parliament which permitted entry to the UK of refugee children under the age of 17, on condition that £50 per child was deposited by a sponsor to cover, in due course, a supposed return journey. Trevor Chadwick was ultimately responsible for the rescue of 669 children from Prague both before and after the occupation by German forces on the 15th March that year.
With this hugely important legacy, the Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust have been raising money to create this lasting memorial to Trevor, to be enjoyed by everyone, including descendants of those he rescued and his own family. The statue looks out over the Trevor Chadwick Playground on the recreation ground above the sea front.
For more information and detail please visit the Trevor Chadwick Trust here
The Statue
Moira Purver is a well known sculptor, having exhibited in galleries in London, Dorset, Hampshire, Berkshire and Devon as well as many outdoor exhibitions including Hidcote Gardens, Savill Gardens, RHS Wisley, Beaulieu, Wyndcliffe Court Sculpture Gardens and Sir Harold Hillier Gardens.
“Moira Purver’s understanding of the human form is clearly more than skin deep and explores the complex relationship between anatomy and art”
The statue is situated on a Purbeck stone plinth, with the stone coming from our California Quarry in Swanage. It was crafted by stone mason Geoff Twigg, with the lettering done by Matt Suttle.
