# Obituary: Elizabeth Liddell OBE

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/06/27/obituary-elizabeth-liddell-obe/
- Published: 2014-06-27T18:01:54+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Elizabeth Liddell OBE, who re-established children’s charity Plan in the UK, has
died after a long fight with cancer.

She was involved in charity work from a young age.

Plan had begun in London in the 1930s but was forced to move to the US during the
Second World War due to bombing. Liddell was instrumental in setting up Plan International,
then known as Foster Parents Plan, in the UK again in the 1980s. She became its 
first national Director in the UK.

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She then moved to help establish Charity Solutions in 1988 to tackle the absence
of specialist management training and support for charity staff. She offered counselling
and practical advice to a wide range of charities large and small.

Liddell received her OBE for her charitable work in India. After becoming Chief 
Executive of Arpana Charitable Trust UK in 1992 she led the charity to help tens
of thousands of people in the poorest communities in northern India. She persuaded
HRH the Prince of Wales to support the charity as its royal patron, and recruited
a distinguished board of trustees and other patrons.

She was Chair of The Forthright Group, an informal association for those working
with and for charities, and co-founder of Charity 2000 which brought together senior
people in the sector for a networking lunch. The last speaker was William Shawcross
of the Charity Commission.

One of her former Plan colleagues said of her:

> “Elizabeth was a source of both inspiration and wisdom, and a person for whom 
> I had a great deal of respect, and our friendship continued long after both of
> us had moved on from Plan”.

Raghunandan Gaind, Chair of Arpana, added: “She brought to her work an infectious
enthusiasm, shrewd judgement and a formidable tenacity”.

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