of the Jewish youth community as reported by Wellesley Aron, was in a letter to Dr. S. Brodetsky (of the Zionist Foundation) on 11 January 1929. Wellesley mentioned that only 5 people attended, but that Norman Lourie (the third founder) called a larger meeting for the following week (10 January) where representatives from at least 7 Jewish youth organizations were present. This meeting was in London at 77 Great Russel Street EC1. England at this time was the center of political Zionism, after the Balfour Declaration in 1917 had stated that "His Majesty's Government favourably viewed the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine" (then under British mandate). The new youth movement Habonim (The Builders) was deliberately non-Zionist in ideology. The first Gedud Trumpeldor was built on Lipschitz's existing youth group in Stepney with Lipshitz as Rosh (leader) assisted by Norman Lourie. In May 1929 the first 27-page hand-booklet detailing how Habonim was to function was published by Aron with help in the mimeographing from Norman Lourie and his friend Nadia, who he later married. They both returned to Norman's home country South Africa in 1930, to establish Habonim branches in various towns and countries in that continent and in India. Habonim UK & Ireland 1929–1955 The Movement grew very rapidly. In London alone there were 21 groups by 1932. The Movement had at least 2,500 members by the time of their ten-year "Jamboree Camp" in 1939. The various gedudim or groups were initially single sex (like the Scouting Movement) but were soon were changed for boys and girls together. Associated but not part of the Movement were training farms, called Hachshara farms, for the older members to learn about agriculture and life on kibbutz, to which their aliyah (or "going-up" to Eretz Yisrael) would eventually lead. During the Second World War the senior members of Habonim helped to organize and take care of the many refugee children who escaped from the Nazis through special Kindertransports. Their parents had agreed to this tragic life-time separation, which was arranged through some of the more future-minded Jewish organizations remaining in Europe. Other members whose aliyah was delayed due to the war, helped the war-time food shortage to be met by working as groups of laborers on various farming communities. Graduates of British Habonim contributed significant manpower to the establishment of many kibbutzim in Israel, among others, Kfar Blum, Kfar Hanasi, Gesher