Trent Park House of Secrets recently hosted an evening reception for the families of the Secret Listeners and the donors, benefactors and patrons who have helped save, restore and open the House - where British intelligence secretly recorded the conversations of captured German generals during the Second World War.
We heard from our founding co-chair Jason Charalambous and co-chair the Marquess of Cholmondeley, great-nephew of Sir Philip Sassoon, who both paid tribute to all those whose support over the years has made the opening of Trent Park House possible.
Our trustee, the actor and comedian Helen Lederer whose Grandfather Ernst Lederer was a Secret Listener at the Trent Park site took the opportunity to celebrate the invited relatives of other Secret Listeners whose relatives had also served at Latimer House and Wilton Park.
Assembling together for the first time made for a unique and meaningful connection for these families. Particularly poignant was the discovery that Dianne O’Shea had met the Lustig family when they were all young through their parents! Meanwhile writer Adam Ganz was able to share memories of his wonderful BBC 4 Radio Play ‘Listening to The Generals’. Other Secret Listener families included journalist and broadcaster Robin Lustig, John Francken, Annette Cove and Laura Gibbon. Helen is pictured below with John Francken and family.
Our Director, Dr Giuseppe Albano, reflected on the journey to July’s opening and the wonderful reaction from visitors across the world in the months since. We were also delighted to welcome Her Worship Cllr Emma Supple, Mayor of Enfield - a longstanding friend of the museum and one of the first through our doors, as well as Leader of Enfield Council Alex Georgiou and Bambos Charalambous MP.
It was a joy to see Secret Listener families, donors, benefactors and patrons together under one roof, in the house whose story connects them. Thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey.
Thank you to our major donors: The Al Thani Collection Foundation and His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani; Berkeley Group; Rothschild Foundation; Pennycress Trust; Stephen A Schwarzman Foundation; The Garfield Weston Foundation; The National Lottery Heritage Fund; Clore Duffield Foundation; The Foyle Foundation; The Sir John Ritblat Family Foundation; Sybil Charitable Trust; Wolfson Foundation; Blavatnik Family Foundation and Country Houses Foundation.
The Trustees are also grateful for the generous support of the following: The Cholmondeley Family, Farrer & Co LLP, Pilgrim Trust, John Francis McAnulty, Craig A McIntosh, Reuben Foundation, Monument Trust, Architectural Heritage Fund, Charles Cator, Gary and Siobhan Harley, Ziwei Luo, John Armitage Charitable Trust, The Bernard Gold Foundation, Christie’s, The Circles of Art, Sue Elliott, Robin Lustig, The Philippe Family, H M Sassoon Charitable Trust.
For a full list of all our supporters visit https://trentparkhouse.org.uk/pages/trent-park-house-supporters
Photographer credits: Hubert Cecil
