A THEATRE is set to host a preview screening of a film telling the story of a local war hero who helped rescue hundreds of children from the Nazis before the Second World War.

The Mowlem Theatre in Swanage will hold the screening of One Life, which follows British humanitarian Nicholas Winton.

He helped hundreds of children out of Czechoslovakia on the eve of the war in the Kindertransport.

The film also features the 'Purbeck Schindler’, Trevor Chadwick, who was formally recognised in August 2022 when a bronze statue was unveiled in Swanage.

Trevor moved to Swanage in 1928, becoming a Latin teacher and lifeboat volunteer.

He was in Czechoslovakia from January 1939 until the summer of that year, when he had to leave because of the approaching war meaning it was too dangerous for him to continue evacuating the children.

The statue celebrated his efforts in helping Sir Nicholas and the Kindertransport.

The preview screening will be held on December 18, before the film is released on January 1.

The theatre said it was an ‘incredible honour’ for the town to commemorate the hero with an early viewing.

Chair of trustees for The Mowlem Theatre, Paul Angel said: “We're thrilled to be showing this special preview screening of a really important film.

“I think we all need a reminder of the good people in the world like Nicholas Winton and Trevor Chadwick who risked their lives to stand up for children in another country.

“I'd like to thank the Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust for putting us in touch with the film's distributors, and for the work they've done to highlight the efforts of a local man who helped rescue so many young refugees from genocide.’

John Corben from The Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust said: “The Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust is delighted to have arranged with the assistance of The Mowlem Theatre a special screening of the film One Life which features Trevor Chadwick and Nicholas Winton and tells the true story of the evacuation of 669 refugee children from Prague in 1939.”

Tickets for the showing go on sale from December 8 and can be purchased from The Mowlem website or box office.