Lucy Faithfull, Baroness Faithfull

Lucy Faithfull, Baroness Faithfull, (26 October 1910 – 13 March 1996) was a British social worker and children's campaigner. She founded the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, the only nationwide UK child protection charity working to prevent child sexual abuse.

Background Faithfull was born in South Africa, the daughter of a nurse and an army officer. In 1978 the University of Warwick made her an Honorary Doctor of Letters and in 1995, she also received the same degree from the Oxford Brookes University. She was elected an honorary fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford in 1992.

Career After her education Faithfull worked at Birmingham Settlement, a charity working with vulnerable people in Birmingham, UK, running clubs and acting as a caseworker for three years until 1935. In the New Year's Honours 1972, she was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Four years later, in 1976, Margaret Thatcher, then leader of the opposition, contacted Faithfull saying she wanted propose her for a seat in the House of Lords and after an initial refusal In the House, she was instrumental in the passing of the Children Act 1989. She helped to establish, and from 1995 chaired, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Children.

She was trustee of a number of voluntary organisations, notably the Caldecott Community, and Bessels Leigh schools. She was vice-president of the National Association of Voluntary Hostels from 1978 and of Barnardo's from 1989. In 1993 she founded the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which works as a child protection agency helping sexually abused children and their families. She died in London in 1996.