It is perhaps not too surprising that people in South Lakeland have responded so positively to the mounting refugee crisis that is sweeping Europe.

After all, the area moved swiftly in 1999 to welcome more than 100 Kosovan refugees who were fleeing civil unrest in the country. The group - whose ages ranged from a four-year-old boy to a 75-year-old man - lived for some time in Ulverston and were welcomed by local people, including a Friends of Kosovo group, who handed out clothes and food and offered other support.

Further back, in 1945, the people of Lakeland welcomed 300 child Holocaust survivors into their community. The children spent a period of recuperation in the Lakes before setting out on new lives. They stayed on the 'lost' wartime village of Calgarth Estate at Troutbeck Bridge.

This week Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the government would support 20,000 refugees fleeing war in Syria across the United Kingdom by 2020.

That decision has been welcomed by some but criticised by others, who do not think it goes far enough.

Whatever your view, the people of South Lakeland have already made it plain that they are willing to help wherever they can.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has revealed that his inbox has been inundated with offers from people across the district offering to house refugees in their homes and holiday cottages.

Meanwhile hundreds of local people have signed an online petition calling for South Lakeland District Council and Barrow Borough Council to give refugees sanctuary.

And a number of local groups are gathering donations and boxes packed with essentials to be sent to refugees camps across Europe.

Whether we eventually see Syrian refugees living in this area remains to be seen. But it has been heartening to witness what Kendal Parish Church vicar Rob Saner-Haigh described as the outpouring of humanitarian goodwill from so many people.

MP Mr Farron also summed up the community-minded nature of the area's residents when he said: "South Lakeland is open-spirited, generous and welcoming to people."