Super fund-raiser is 'Woman of the Year' (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Super fund-raiser is 'Woman of the Year'

9:07am Friday 14th November 2003 in News By Michaela Robinson-Tate

KENDAL’S redoubtable international fund-raiser Pat Wright has been named Cumbria Woman of the Year, reports Michaela Robinson-Tate.

“Please don’t make me out to be a saint because I’m not – I have very much feet of clay,” pleaded the grandmother, who said she had found her new accolade “absolutely unbelievable”.

Mrs Wright, 62, was the unanimous choice of the judges for the 14th annual award, for which there were 70 nominations. The presentation was made at a lunch at Grasmere on Wednesday afternoon.

The organisation’s chairman Juliet Westoll said: “Pat Wright stood out very much this year. She is a tremendous fund-raiser in her own Kendal and I know terribly well known and very well respected.

“And what a lady of huge emotion and enthusiasm, overcoming any ill health that she’s had.” Mrs Wright, who was awarded the MBE in 2000 in recognition of her service to the children of Chernobyl, has steered a huge number of fund-raising and humanitarian projects over the years.

She dismisses her own health problems, which have included a heart attack and having sight in only one eye, although she will admit to having a “bit of a scare” when she thought she was also going blind in the other eye.

After years of humanitarian work, Mrs Wright launched her own New Beginnings charity to raise money to rescue Ukraine’s street children. A house on the outskirts of Kiev, called Genesis, where ten children can get the first taste of a real home, is about to open after Mrs Wright’s campaign, which was supported by The Westmorland Gazette, raised £20,000.

Mrs Wright, who will be with the youngsters in the home at Christmas, was bowled over by her award.

“It’s a stupendous honour. It’s special because it’s my county – I live here, I was born here and my children were raised here. These are my peers and it’s very, very special.” Mrs Wright said she was particularly honoured to live in a county in which people were prepared to be so generous and back her fund-raising drives.

“What I have done I could not have done without the most fabulous committee and the support of The Westmorland Gazette and the people of Cumbria.”