Ashton Sixth Form College was honored to welcome 94-year-old Holocaust Survivor Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines as their speaker of the month.

Lady Milena and her sister came to live in Ashton Under-Lyne after they were two of the 669 children saved by Sir Nicholas Winton who, arranged the Kinder Transport from Prague during the Second World War to bring them to safety in England in 1939- their story is now being portrayed in the film ‘One Life’ starring Anthony Hopkins.

Today was the second time Lady Milena has returned to where she grew up, which was just around the corner from Ashton Sixth Form College, bringing back many memories of the area for her as a child.

During the talk to students, Lady Milena shared her inspiring story of fleeing her home country of Czechoslovakia during Nazi occupation, starting her life in a new country and being reunited with her parents years later. She showed students artifacts such as her evacuation certificate and name tag.  

She also shared the extraordinary story of when over 40 years later, she discovered and met the man who saved her and her sister. The iconic clip was first featured on “That’s Life” in 1988 when Nicholas was reunited with many of the children he rescued. Now recreated in the 2023 film “One Life” starring Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter, Lady Milena features in both and remained friends with Nicholas Winton throughout his life.

She was also shown students artwork done as part of a National Lottery Funded project called "Life Through a lens" where students responded to photos from survivors and Kindertransport children.

Lady Milena commented how important it is to share her story in College to encourage young people to always be kind to each other and appreciate those they have in life. Quoting Sir Nicholas Winton, she said “It’s not good to just not do bad things” She challenged all students to do just one good dead a day and see the difference they make.

Centre Principal Lisa Richards commented "We have run our Speaker of the Month initiative for almost two years, but I have never seen such a full house as Lady Milena’s talk.

And what a talk it was, truly bringing history to life with the very personal touch that comes from hearing - first hand - someone's unique story. Students were in awe. Lady Milena's profound take-away message, "If it is not impossible, it can be done" left our young people with both a new understanding of this significant part of history and inspiration to consider their role in shaping the present and the future".

Lady Milena’s visit is a part of Ashton Sixth Form College’s Speaker of the Month Programme which is an excellent opportunity for students to immerse themselves in super curriculum enrichment. Each month the college sees a high-profile keynote speaker discussing different topics such as employability skills, philosophical debate, tips, advice and much more. The program is varied for all areas of the curriculum and links closely to the college's priority of careers and employability. Previous speakers have included Alex Scott MBE, Actor Phil Mealy and Poet Tony Walsh.

The College would like to extend their thanks to Lady Milena for such an amazing and inspiring talk, leaving students and staff with such an important message.