Esther Rantzen: Charity leaders pay tribute to ‘truly remarkable’ campaigner

Dame Esther Rantzen showed “unwavering determination and tenacity in ensuring children were safe and heard”, the chief executive of the NSPCC has said.

The broadcaster and campaigner, who has died at the age of 86, founded Childline to provide free counselling services for young people.

The helpline, now part of the NSPCC, has supported some six million children in the UK since it was launched in 1986.

NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood said in a statement: “Esther was a unique and truly remarkable woman who during her life did incredible things and went to exceptional lengths to ensure children and young people across the UK had somewhere to turn when they were in need of help.”

He added: “Esther’s hands-on approach defined her leadership. She loved nothing more than spending time in our bases and connecting with our volunteer counsellors.

“Her unwavering determination and tenacity in ensuring children were safe and heard never diminished.”

The That’s Life! presenter went on to become a prominent voice in the assisted dying debate, campaigning strongly for it to be legalised.

The Dignity in Dying charity, which campaigned alongside Dame Esther, has hailed her as a “force of nature whose compassion, tenacity and wit will be greatly missed”.

In a statement, it added: “Throughout her life, Dame Esther fought for people’s rights: for children, for older people and, latterly, for dying people who needed more choice and compassion, a cause she championed right up to her death.

“She spoke bravely about her experience and her family’s own pain, but only so that those without a public voice could be heard.

“She used her platform to speak truth to power and gave a voice to so many other terminally ill and bereaved people across the country.”

In 2012, Dame Esther set up The Silver Line, a free telephone service for those aged 55 and over – especially those struggling with loneliness and isolation – to access support. The helpline is now part of Age UK.

Paul Farmer, the charity’s chief executive, paid tribute to Dame Esther’s “dedication and commitment” to older people.

He said: “Esther was a true inspiration and spent her life working tirelessly to help others.”

“Her dedication and commitment to older people is unrivalled and her legacy will carry on through The Silver Line Helpline’s work. We can never thank her enough,” Mr Farmer added.

Dame Esther served as the first ambassador of the Heart Cells Foundation charity, which funds research into using stem cells to treat patients suffering from heart failure.

The broadcaster’s husband, filmmaker Desmond Wilcox, died of the disease in 2000.

Jenifer Rosenberg, the charity’s founder and chairwoman, described Dame Esther as an “extraordinary woman whose warmth, courage and determination touched so many lives”.

Ms Rosenberg added: “She was not simply a supporter of our work; she understood, through the loss of her beloved husband Desmond to heart disease, the devastating impact that heart disease can have on families.

“Esther’s commitment to helping others was unwavering. She brought compassion, energy and a remarkable ability to make people believe that change was possible.

“I feel incredibly privileged to have known her and to have had her standing alongside us in our mission to give people with heart failure hope for the future.

“Her legacy of kindness and service will live on in all those whose lives she touched.”

Humanists UK chief executive Andrew Copson said Dame Esther was “a great champion of human dignity” who “understood that the right to choose a peaceful death is a fundamental human freedom”.

The head of the secular charitable organisation added: “Her legacy is not just in the charities she founded, but in the compassion she awakened in the public consciousness regarding the end of life.

“She changed the debate, and we are deeply grateful for her courage.”