Tribute to Mrs Doreen Taylor
Little did I expect when I was asked to write the foreword for this publication, that our treasured friend and founder member of the Wigan and Leigh Wheelchair Fund Doreen Taylor would no longer be with us. Doreen had been fighting cancer for several years but the end came as a bitter blow to us all.
So, this is more than a celebration of the success of the Wheelchair Fund, it is a tribute to Doreen’s dedication, her love of life and the esteem in which she was held by all those who knew her.
Doreen, with no exaggeration, was the nearest thing Wigan had to a Saint. She dedicated her whole life to others particularly children who suffered serious illness or had been damaged by abuse.
She created the Children’s Wheelchair Fund in the early 80’s and got a team of local people around her dedicated to providing equipment to help transform the lives of young people with severe disabilities. Such was her energy and sense of community in later years, she extended her help to adults with disability. The Wheelchair Fund since its inception has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds and helped change the lives of hundreds of children and adults and the work she started goes on today. Many people will remember her with affection for the difference she made to their lives.
And, Doreen expected no thanks for this. She shunned tributes for her work. Her reward was the dramatic change she brought to people’s lives. All of this love showered on people, many of whom she did not know, came from her life long commitment to social justice.
Doreen was a wonderful mother, wife and friend and we will never forget her. My wife and I were devastated by the death of such a close personal friend and all of our lives are poorer for the loss of such a special dear person.
The Wheelchair Fund will go on with the help of dedicated volunteers who continue to do such an excellent job of the work Doreen started and this is a fitting tribute to a wonder person. It is what Doreen would have wanted.
Rt. Hon. Ian McCartney MP.
President of the Wigan and Leigh Wheelchair Fund.