Let’s honour 70-years of service to 600 charities, says women's charity president

Dr Anita Sharma

The president of a women’s charity that aids worthy causes here and overseas has paid tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for doing so, “on a much grander, inspirational scale.”

The Rochdale Inner Wheel gives a platform for everyone from local clubs to medical aid charities to raise their profile and raise funds.

And with research showing that 8% of people will give more if the charity has royal patronage, president Dr Anita Sharma saluted the sterling service the late monarch gave, reminding us that she helped good causes garner over £1.5bn pounds in her first 60 years on the throne.

“Philanthropy is at the heart of the Inner Wheel’s work and quite obviously was a major part of Her Majesty’s notion of service” said Dr Sharma, herself the founder of charity Endometriosis Awareness North. “Her endorsement was a mark of quality for many, who were assured that if it mattered to her, then it should matter to them. We must make that compassion her legacy.”

Aside from putting her stamp of approval on a charity’s work, the Queen was what Dr Sharma called, “a walking ambassador for smaller concerns in particular, living their ethos and showing by example, that we should do the same.”

Dr Sharma continued: “You always had the sense that whether the charity was large or small, it mattered. We who are fortunate to be healthy, fed, and clothed, have a duty to help those who aren’t, and that was a principle. She certainly understood.”

Made up of women from all walks-of-life, the Rochdale Inner Wheel is part of a global franchise which holds an international conference every three years. Although organised at national and regional level, decisions are made upon which charities to support by individual members at local branches. Everyone from the Royal Horticultural Society to Springhill Hospice, have benefitted thanks to the Rochdale outlet.

“The other important thing about charity is that it undoubtedly brings people together, of all backgrounds, faiths and ages” concluded Dr Sharma, “that is certainly the case with the Inner Wheel and just look at the breadth of good causes from children’s autism to veterans, that the Queen also supported. We all of us need help and support at times in our lives and the two groups that are going to miss Her Majesty the most are the needy and those who support them.”

Endometriosis Awareness North fights for all women and their families enduring endometriosis, a debilitating condition affecting one in ten women of childbearing age.